Salmonella control in poultry should include pre-harvest

A new era for Salmonella sampling, regulation and control in poultry is beginning, putting greater pressure on preharvest approaches to reduce the pathogen.

New methods to better control, test and mitigate Salmonella before the processing plant was discussed by Douglas L. Fulnechek, DVM, Zoetis Senior Public Health Poultry Veterinarian, Nikki Shariat, Ph.D., University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health, Poultry Diagnostic Research Center and Jeffrey Niedermeyer, Butterball LLC Director of Food Safety at the 2022 Poultry Tech Summit.

“Salmonella does not originate in the processing plant,” said Fulnechek. “The goal is to prevent the broiler chick or turkey poult from becoming colonized. This is a big challenge because production methods favor the bacteria.”

The industry needs to recognize that pre-harvest interventions are required to control Salmonella and that food safety begins on the farm level, the panel of experts stressed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not have regulatory authority on the farm level, meaning that producers must voluntarily adopt pre-harvest interventions to help manage Salmonella in poultry products. However, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) proposed framework to reduce Salmonella, announced on October 14, 2022, indirectly expands the department’s regulatory control. Read more