Meat/Poultry

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The overuse of antibiotics in livestock raised for food can seriously affect human health and fuel antimicrobial resistance by decreasing the effectiveness of medications used for treating bacterial infections. Without effective antimicrobials, common infections will become life-threatening and certain treatments will not be possible.

Aged meat does not carry greater food safety risks than fresh meat when aging is done correctly, according to a new scientific opinion adopted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that focuses on the microbiological food safety risks of aged meat in comparison to fresh meat and provides recommendations for safe production.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has announced that January 1, 2026 will be the uniform compliance date for new meat and poultry product labeling regulations published January 1, 2023–December 31, 2024.

The European Commission has established maximum levels for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in certain foods.

Sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobials approved for use in food-producing animals has been decreasing since 2015, but with only a one percent reduction seen in 2020–2021, according to a recent report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA’s CVM).

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we talk to Sandra Eskin, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and head of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Sandra discusses FSIS' approach to mitigating Salmonella in poultry, including the agency’s Proposed Regulatory Framework to Reduce Salmonella Illnesses Attributable to Poultry.

To understand and eventually reduce the risk of salmonellosis from poultry meat, it is necessary to understand the poultry production system, the introduction of the microorganism into the poultry ecosystem (as well as its gastrointestinal tract), the sources of Salmonella during production, subsequently, strategies to control or reduce the risk from this microorganism at both the pre-and post-harvest stages. Part 3 of this article will focus on post-harvest controls during processing to minimize the risk of Salmonella from poultry products.

To deal with the impacts on supply caused by the recent bird flu outbreak, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is temporarily allowing for the sale of certain poultry products that have been previously frozen and defrosted.

A recent study is the first to track foodborne pathogens from specific pigs and their associated pork products at all points in the supply chain, from the farm to retail stores. The antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of the pathogens was also evaluated.

A recent study has revealed that Salmonella is developing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) due to the overuse of antibiotics for livestock, and that foodborne illness outbreaks linked to Salmonella in poultry are continuously increasing.