DeLauro Applauds Recent USDA Proposal to Declare Salmonella as an Adulterant at Low Levels in Breaded Stuffed Raw Chicken Products
Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released a statement following a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcement declaring Salmonella an adulterant at low levels in breaded stuffed raw chicken products.
"The public entrusts the USDA to keep our nation's meat and poultry products safe. I commend the USDA for declaring Salmonella as an adulterant in a raw poultry product, a vital first step to improved protections for the public from foodborne illness.
"With nearly 1.35 million Americans getting sick from Salmonella every year, and about one-fifth of those cases stemming from chicken or turkey, we must ensure food manufacturers are held to the highest safety standards. When a similar action was taken on E. coli, its prevalence decreased immensely, and I hope to see a similar result once this proposal is finalized.
"I commend Secretary Vilsack and Deputy Undersecretary Eskin for their work and I look forward to working together on introducing additional measures to reduce Salmonella contamination in all poultry products."
According to the CDC, Salmonella bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States every year.
Salmonella is widespread in chicken in part because of the often crowded and unsanitary conditions in which they are raised. A recent CR investigation, found almost one-third of ground chicken samples tested contained salmonella.
Breaded raw stuffed chicken products are typically found in the freezer section of the grocery store. While these products may appear cooked, they still contain raw chicken and are only heat-treated by manufacturers to set the batter or breading. These products have been associated with 14 Salmonella outbreaks and 200 illnesses since 1998. Last year, an outbreak caused 36 illnesses in 11 states. During that outbreak, 12 people were hospitalized.
DeLauro has introduced legislation in the past, such as the Pathogen Reduction and Testing Reform Act, that would strengthen the ability of the USDA to keep Americans safe from contaminated meat, poultry, and eggs. Among other reforms, the bill would define Salmonella strains that are associated with serious illness or death, or that are drug-resistant, to be an adulterant in poultry. This change in definition would subject such contaminated products to the USDA's mandatory recall authority.