At a January 14 public meeting on strategies to reduce Salmonella in poultry products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) focused on the importance of tailored strategies, data-driven decisions, and considering the needs of small- and medium-sized establishments.

The hybrid public meeting drew more than 50 in-person and 300 virtual attendees. During the meeting, USDA-FSIS Under Secretary for Food Safety, Mindy Brashears, Ph.D., shared the agency’s vision for regulating Salmonella in poultry. In April 2025, the agency’s previously proposed framework to address Salmonella in poultry was withdrawn by the Trump Administration after years of development. The January 14 public meeting was held to gather stakeholder input and begin paving a new road toward policies that will reduce cases of salmonellosis attributable to poultry.

During the meeting, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins also made an appearance to express that the meeting was not about competing viewpoints, but about advancing practical, science-based strategies to reduce Salmonella and maintain a safe, affordable food system. Secretary Rollins also acknowledged how the meeting and subsequent work directly supports USDA’s five-point plan to bolster food safety, announced in July.

USDA-FSIS’ Vision for a Science-Based Salmonella Approach

During her remarks, Dr. Brashears said that, although Salmonella in poultry has been a major focus of USDA-FSIS in recent years, meaningful reductions in foodborne illness will require a broader lens that considers other regulated goods, like pork and beef, and which spans the supply chain.

The agency’s work to develop a new regulatory framework for Salmonella in poultry—which focused on the presence of specific serotypes on certain poultry products during production—was driven by the fact that, despite the effectiveness of FSIS’ current Salmonella verification sampling program in reducing the proportion of poultry products contaminated with the pathogen, it has not translated into a reduction in foodborne illness. 

As the agency explores a new approach to reducing foodborne Salmonella illnesses, Dr. Brashears stressed the importance of tailored strategies rather than relying on one-size-fits-all solutions. She highlighted modern tools like biomapping and environmental mapping to identify high-risk areas in facilities and acknowledged the need to consider small and very small establishments as FSIS develops this initiative. According to Dr. Brashears, solutions must work for plants of all sizes, enabling access to validated interventions and tools that fit within real-world operational realities.

Dr. Brashears also emphasized that data must continue to drive progress, and that regulatory sampling alone cannot capture the full scope of the issue. She asserted that interventions must be supported by science and validation, with data guiding decisions around critical control points.

Dr. Brashears: A Scientist at the Head of FSIS

In December, Dr. Brashears was officially confirmed by the Senate for a second term as head of USDA-FSIS. A career food research scientist and microbiologist, she previously served in the same position from 2020–2021 during the first Trump Administration. In her first term as Under Secretary for Food Safety, Dr. Brashears advocated for science-based policies to reduce Salmonella in regulated products, much like she did during the January public meeting.

Disagreement About the Way Forward

A major element of the now-withdrawn framework was the intent to declare Salmonella an adulterant in certain raw chicken products if it contained levels of the pathogen exceeding 10 colony forming unit (CFU) per milliliter (mL) or gram (g), or if a serotype of concern was detected at any level.

This concept proved controversial at the public meeting. Industry representatives from the Meat Institute, National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation, and National Pork Producers Council supported the withdrawal of the proposed framework, suggesting that declaring Salmonella an adulterant was inappropriate because it is a naturally occurring substance.

Food safety and consumer protection representatives from groups like Consumer Reports, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Stop Foodborne Illness disagreed, believing the declaration of Salmonella as an adulterant to be necessary and calling for the agency to move forward with its now-withdrawn proposed framework.

USDA-FSIS has already finalized the determination of Salmonella as an adulterant in not-ready-to-eat (NRTE), breaded and stuffed chicken products at levels exceeding 1 CFU/g, but in December, USDA-FSIS indefinitely delayed sampling and verification activities to enforce this determination.

In his testimony at the meeting, Michael Hansen, Ph.D., Senior Food Scientist with Consumer Reports, urged FSIS to immediately reverse its decision to delay verification activities related to Salmonella in NRTE, breaded and stuffed chicken products. He also argued that the 1 CFU/g limit for adulteration is legally applicable not only to NRTE, breaded and stuffed chicken products, but also to other products covered under the broader regulatory framework. Dr. Hansen argued that Salmonella at levels of 1 CFU/g or higher in these poultry products qualify as an “added substance” because it is introduced by cross-contamination through processing.