USDA's FSIS Revises Laboratory Method for Campylobacter Testing
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today that it has removed from its Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook an enumeration method for Campylobacter testing in raw poultry.
Today's statement acknowledged that FSIS has developed pathogen reduction performance standards for Campylobacter testing of raw poultry using a qualitative laboratory method and has been enumerating Campylobacter from these samples. However, FSIS officials said, the agency has not used the enumeration data to evaluate establishment performance or to develop the performance standard.