The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) has published its Annual Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, detailing activities FSIS will undertake to advance its strategic goals in the coming year.

FSIS’s strategic goals for FY 2025 remain unchanged: to prevent foodborne illness and protect public health; transform inspection systems, policies, and scientific approaches to improve public health; and achieve operational excellence. To meet these goals, the agency will focus on several priorities, including:

• Preventing human cases of salmonellosis attributable to poultry consumption. Consistent with the agency’s final determination declaring Salmonella an adulterant in not-ready-to-eat (not RTE), breaded and stuffed chicken products, which goes into effect in FY 2025, FSIS plans to implement verification of Salmonella control for establishments producing these products, and will continue efforts to finalize its Salmonella regulatory framework rulemaking. By May 1, FSIS will implement testing and other activities to verify that not RTE, breaded and stuffed chicken products meet adulteration standards. The agency will also continue to assess data and studies regarding regulatory requirements, sampling, and inspection tasks.
• Verifying that labels are truthful and not misleading. FSIS will implement verification activities related to the final rule on voluntary labeling of regulated products with U.S.-origin claims, continue efforts to evaluate the safe handling instructions label, and work to finalize labeling requirements for cell-cultured meat and poultry food products.
• Prioritizing effective communication strategies to share information with stakeholders, including underserved communities and Tribal organizations. FSIS will focus on collaboration and communication with public health partners, consumers, and stakeholders. The agency will also continue to support State Meat and Poultry Inspection, Talmadge-Aiken, and Cooperative Interstate Shipment programs.

With the goal of ensuring agency systems and policies are scientifically up-to-date, FSIS intends to explore new or modified laboratory methods, evaluate their fitness for purpose, and plan for their implementation. Specifically, FSIS will explore new methods to detect Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) using a definition based on virulence. As part of its Accredited Laboratory Program, FSIS will continue to build out its Salmonella and aerobic count proficiency analyses. Additionally, FSIS will continue to refine sampling strategies that allocate sampling tasks to establishments based on public health risk.

Moreover, to optimize its inspection and outreach activities, FSIS plans to leverage data-driven insights. For example, the agency will use results from the 2024 Small and Very Small Establishment survey and other sources of industry feedback to increase regulatory compliance and explore ways to best communicate with small and very small establishments.

FSIS also aims to achieve operational excellence by investing resources into employee recognition, training programs, and professional development opportunities, continuing to focus on employee recruitment and retention.