WASHINGTON – The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) withdrew the proposed “Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products,” which targeted reductions in illnesses associated with poultry products contaminated by the pathogen.
“While FSIS continues to support the goal of reducing Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products, the agency believes that the comments have raised several important issues that warrant further consideration,” USDA-FSIS said in an unpublished Federal Register notice linked to the agency’s Constituent Update. “Therefore, FSIS is withdrawing the ‘Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products’ proposed rule and proposed determination to allow the agency to further assess its approach for addressing Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products.”
The notice is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on April 25, 2025.
The agency based its decision to withdraw the proposed framework based on feedback received during the public comment period, which closed on Jan. 17, 2025. FSIS said the agency received 7,089 comments on the proposed framework during the comment period. Most of the comments were submitted as part of organized letter writing campaigns, while 1,415 were unique comment letters, according to the agency.
“The issues that generated the most comments, both positive and negative, included those associated with FSIS’ legal authority to propose the final product standards, the proposed Salmonella levels and serotypes for the final product standards, the proposed use of SPC monitoring, the scientific and technical information used to support the proposed framework, the potential economic impacts of the proposed framework, and the potential impact of the proposed framework on small poultry growers and processors,” the agency said. “Several comments also suggested alternative approaches other than the proposed framework for addressing Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products.”
A wide-ranging group of stakeholders submitted comments on the agency’s proposed strategy to reduce Salmonella illnesses related to poultry products. Among them, the National Chicken Council (NCC) came out against the proposed framework, arguing that, as written, the framework:
- Was legally unsound;
- Relied on misinterpretations of the science;
- Would have had no meaningful impact on public health;
- Would have led to an extraordinary amount of food waste; and
- Would have increased costs for producers and consumers.
“We appreciate today’s announcement by FSIS and share their goal of protecting public health,” said Ashley Peterson, PhD, NCC’s senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. “We look forward to working with the agency on an approach to build on the industry’s tremendous progress in reducing Salmonella on chicken products through policy that is based on sound science, is implementable, and will have a meaningful and measured impact on public health.”
In July 2024, FSIS proposed a new framework that established protocols to keep the final product’s Salmonella levels below 10 colony-forming units, and any detectable Salmonella serotype of public health significance would be prohibited from entering commerce.
Based on this proposed determination, FSIS intended to implement verification procedures, including sampling and testing of the chicken component of the product prior to stuffing and breading, to ensure processors controlled Salmonella in these products. The proposed framework would have required poultry processors to develop, implement and maintain written procedures to prevent contamination by enteric pathogens throughout the entire poultry processing operation, and the procedures must include a microbial monitoring program (MMP). FSIS determined this and other requirements would be burdensome to small poultry processors and producers.
The agency also sought to control Salmonella levels in some breaded chicken products. In April 2024, FSIS declared Salmonella an adulterant in raw breaded stuffed chicken products when they exceed a threshold of 1 colony forming unit (CFU) per gram or higher for Salmonella contamination. But the agency delayed implementing a sampling program of not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) breaded stuffed chicken products to Nov. 3, 2025. The sampling program initially was set to begin on May 1, 2025.
FSIS said the agency needed more time to finalize its instructions to inspectors and prepare inspection program personnel (IPP) and laboratories for the new sampling and testing. FSIS also needed more time to provide industry with guidance on holding and controlling products pending sampling results.
