New Performance Standards

New Performance Standards. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last week announced new performance standards to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in young chickens (broilers) and turkeys, fulfilling another key recommendation of the President's Food Safety Working Group. VILSACK: Campylobacter and salmonella are two of the highest causes of illness in terms of food borne and food related illnesses. We have not had a revision to the salmonella performance standard since 1996 and we've never had one for campylobacter. Our belief is these performance standards will set a level of percentage of samples and require a level of percentage of samples testing positive for the given pathogen in order to determine whether or not poultry, primarily young chickens, broilers and turkeys are safe. Vilsack says by revising these standards and creating new ones they are encouraging establishments to make improvements in the current level of pathogens in the products they produce. VILSACK: And setting these standards is one step, by no means the only step but certainly an important step that FSIS is taking to prevent customers and consumers from getting sick and hopefully this will result in a positive public health outcome. Early estimates suggest that the campylobacter standard could save as many as 39-thousand illnesses from occurring and the salmonella revised and improved standard could prevent 26-thousand fewer illnesses each year. These standards are a part of a plan that the Obama Administration intends to have 90% compliance by the end of 2010/2011. VILSACK: The industry has done a good job in bringing down the level of salmonella at establishments but these standards are going to encourage a further reduction of the prevalence of these pathogens. In addition to developing these stricter performance standards, we are relying on recently completed studies that measure the baseline prevalence of these two pathogens in young chicken and turkey carcasses nationwide. That baseline survey will provide a measure of the prevalence of the pathogens in these products and they will tell us the level of contamination there is in FSIS regulated products. FSIS is seeking comment on the performance standards and two compliance guides announced in the Federal Register Notice. FSIS expects to begin using the standards after analyzing the comments and, if necessary, making any adjustments. More tomorrow. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.