Food Safety Advocacy Groups Support USDA-FSIS Proposal to Declare Salmonella an Adulterant in Certain Chicken Products
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and other food safety advocates have announced their support of a proposal by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) to declare Salmonella an adulterant in breaded, stuffed, not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) chicken products. Besides CSPI, signatories to the comment filed with USDA include representatives of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention at Ohio State University, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Stop Foodborne Illness, and William (Bill) Marler, Esq.
The NRTE products in question, such as Chicken Cordon Bleu and Chicken Kiev, are typically frozen, and have been disproportionately associated with cases of salmonellosis. Because these products often come pre-browned and may appear cooked when they are not, consumers often do not understand the raw nature of the products and may use improper techniques for cooking. Although such products account for only 0.15 percent of domestic chicken products, they have been linked to five percent of all chicken-related Salmonellaoutbreaks.