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Quarterly Progress Report on Salmonella Testing of Selected
Raw Meat and Poultry Products: Preliminary Results, July-September, 2006 |
Attachments to this report:
In February 2006, FSIS announced several changes | PDF
to the Agency's Salmonella Verification Testing Program, including:
Increasing the testing frequency in establishments that exhibit highly variable or variable process control.
New criteria for scheduling Salmonella sets were implemented for sets scheduled from June 2006 onwards.
(Visit FSIS' Web site at https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081004040229/http://www.fsis.usda.gov/pdf/ scheduling_criteria_salmonella_sets.pdf
(PDF Only) to view these.) These new criteria focus FSIS resources on establishments with the most samples positive
for Salmonella and the most samples with serotypes most frequently associated with human salmonellosis.
While these new criteria are preliminary in nature and will be continually reassessed and modified when needed,
the overall objective of a risk-based approach to verification sampling remains constant.
Testing of turkey carcasses. The guidance document "Generic E. coli and Salmonella
Baseline Results," which specifically addressed turkeys
(https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081004040229/http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/02-046N.htm |
PDF) (February 17, 2005 Federal Register Notice (70 FR 8058))
specified a maximum of 13 positive samples in a set of 56 samples. That guidance was based on results from the
turkey carcass sponge baseline study conducted from July 1997 through June 1998
(https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081004040229/http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/ Baseline_Data_Young_Turkey.pdf,
PDF Only). The results for the 1,362 turkey carcass samples collected July-September 2006 are presented (Table 1).
Posting quarterly results to the FSIS Web site. This is the third such report,
covering July-September 2006. Data are presented in three formats:
- Percent positive Salmonella tests by product class and establishment size.
Table 1 summarizes all third-quarter samples in the same format used in past annual reports.
- Proportion of establishments in each of the three categories identified in February Federal
Register Notice. Given the revised testing strategy, the percentage of positive samples is no
longer useful as an indicator of trends, and so FSIS is considering alternative trend indicators
for the Salmonella verification program. Tables 2, 3, and 4
detail the proportion of establishments in each of the three categories identified in February
Federal Register (FR) Notice, using broiler (young chickens), market hog and cow/bull establishments as
examples. The largest proportions of establishments are in Category 1 as of Oct 1, 2006: 45% of broiler
establishments (Table 2); 55% of market hog establishments (Table 3); and 54% of cow/bull establishments
(Table 4). Note: The February 2006 FR Notice stated a goal of having 90% of establishments within a class
of raw product in Category 1 one year after initiation of the program, as a proxy for the Healthy People
2010 goal of reducing illness associated with Salmonella. While the Agency does not expect
this trend indicator to vary greatly on a quarterly basis, it should facilitate tracking of overall
industry performance when examined over multiple years. Other product classes will be added to future
quarterly reports as appropriate data are available, and other trend indicators continue to be considered.
- Salmonella results summarized by product class for the most recent five quarters. NOTE:
While the first two quarterly reports included individual sample results from "A" sets only, this
report and future reports will summarize data from all sets. This change was discussed in the second
quarterly report. While earlier quarterly reports will not be retrospectively changed, the data in
this report from July 2005 through June 2006 has been updated to include all samples for consistency
in the graphs.
In this revised format the results for each product class are shown in a graph (PDF Only)
depicting the number of samples and the percentage of positive samples by quarter for the last five
quarters. Graphs for all product classes are included, recognizing that the number of samples can be
very small, even zero, for some products in a specific quarter. This is the second quarter for turkey
testing, therefore only two quarters appear on this graph.
Annual reports summarizing results for calendar years
will continue to be available on the FSIS Web site. (FSIS is also considering posting results by fiscal year).
However, the restructuring of Salmonella set scheduling means that comparison of results from 2006
onwards to previous years will be inappropriate. Similarly, the changes to the verification program will prevent
valid comparisons of testing results over time (e.g., quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year trends). For such
comparisons, the results of upcoming nationwide baseline studies can be used to provide valid estimates of
the prevalence of certain pathogens of public health concern and permit valid statistical comparisons to be
made over time. A 12-month Young Chicken (Broiler) Baseline Study is scheduled to begin shortly, and additional
baseline studies are under development.
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Last Modified:
November 17, 2006 |
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