Sweeping changes in U.S. poultry processing proposed

DES MOINES, Iowa — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday proposed sweeping changes in the way chicken and turkey meat is processed that are intended to reduce illnesses from food contamination but could require meat companies to make extensive changes to their operations.

Despite decades of efforts to try and reduce illnesses caused by salmonella in food, more than 1 million people are sickened every year and nearly a fourth of those cases come from turkey and chicken meat.

The USDA’S Food Safety and Inspection Service wants to do something about it by starting with the farmers who raise the birds and following through to the processing plant where the meat is made.

The USDA estimates the total yearly cost for foodborne salmonella infections in the U.S. at $4.1 billion.

In an effort to curtail salmonella outbreaks in poultry, the agency is proposing a regulatory framework that would include testing incoming flocks of chickens and turkeys for the bacterial disease that commonly affects the intestinal tract and affects 1.3 million people annually.