USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is declaring Salmonella as an adulterant in breaded and stuffed raw chicken products.
USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety Sandra Eskin tells Brownfield the updated classification means boosting the standard for acceptable bacteria within the poultry products.
“We’re proposing a level of one coloney forming unit per gram,” she said. “That is a very low level of contamination.”
Eskin said breaded and raw chicken products have been linked to 14 salmonella outbreaks in the last 25 years, leading to hundreds of illnesses – but outbreaks are only the tip of the iceberg.
