Salmonella

The USDA has declared salmonella an adulterant - a contaminant that causes health concerns - in breaded and stuffed raw chicken products.

The [declaration](https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/08/01/usda-announces-action-declare-salmonella-adulterant-breaded-stuffed) of salmonella as an adulterant in breaded and stuffed chicken products came on August 1, 2022. [announced](https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/10/19/usda-launches-new-effort-reduce-salmonella-illnesses-linked-poultry) a new commitment to reducing salmonella contamination and poisoning from poultry products. The darker color of the breading is often confusing to consumers who believe the whole product has been fully cooked. Breaded and stuffed chicken products are heat-treated to set the breading prior to freezing, but the poultry itself is still raw. [Foodborne Illness Source Attribution Estimates for 2019 for Salmonella, Escherichia Coli O157, Listeria Monocytogenes, and Campylobacter Using Multi-Year Outbreak Surveillance Data, United States](https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ifsac/pdf/P19-2019-report-TriAgency-508.pdf)(The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration) [Healthy People 2030](https://health.gov/healthypeople)(United States Department of Health and Human Services) [New USDA Policy Will Reject Some Salmonella-Contaminated Poultry Products](https://www.fooddive.com/news/salmonella-contaminated-poultry-regulation-usda-adulterant/628577/)(Food Dive) [Reduce Infections Caused by Salmonella — FS‑04](https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/foodborne-illness/reduce-infections-caused-salmonella-fs-04)(United States Department of Health and Human Services) [Salmonella](https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/index.html)(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) [USDA Announces Action to Declare Salmonella an Adulterant in Breaded Stuffed Raw Chicken Products](https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/08/01/usda-announces-action-declare-salmonella-adulterant-breaded-stuffed)(United States Department of Agriculture) [USDA Launches New Effort to Reduce Salmonella Illnesses Linked to Poultry](https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/10/19/usda-launches-new-effort-reduce-salmonella-illnesses-linked-poultry)(United States Department of Agriculture) [USDA Will No Longer Allow Salmonella in Breaded, Stuffed Chicken](https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/salmonella-no-longer-allowed-in-breaded-stuffed-chicken-usda-a6479160315/)(Consumer Reports) If the product exceeds the designated acceptable level of contamination, the product will not be sold. [The Adulterating Foodborne Pathogens: Meat, Poultry, and Some Egg Products](https://nationalaglawcenter.org/the-adulterating-foodborne-pathogens-meat-poultry-and-some-egg-products/)(The National Agricultural Law Center) [Chicken and Food Poisoning](https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/chicken.html)(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) [National Chicken Council Objects to USDA Plan to Name Salmonella as Adulterant in Some Chicken Products](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/08/national-chicken-council-objects-to-usda-plan-to-name-salmonella-as-adulterant-in-some-chicken-products/)(Food Safety News) [Salmonella Contamination Not Unusual in Chicken](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/07/salmonella-contamination-not-unusual-in-chicken/)(Food Safety News) [USDA Labels Salmonella ‘Adulterant’ to Combat Bacteria in Poultry](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-01/usda-labels-salmonella-adulterant-to-combat-bacteria-in-poultry)(Bloomberg) [USDA to Declare Salmonella an Adulterant in Some Raw Poultry](https://www.natlawreview.com/article/usda-to-declare-salmonella-adulterant-some-raw-poultry)(The National Law Review) These poultry products have been associated with up to [14 outbreaks and 200 illnesses](https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/08/01/usda-announces-action-declare-salmonella-adulterant-breaded-stuffed) since 1998. [Healthy People 2030](https://health.gov/healthypeople) [goal](https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/foodborne-illness/reduce-infections-caused-salmonella-fs-04) to reduce salmonella illnesses by 25 percent. [1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths](https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/index.html) in the United States, and [25 percent](https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ifsac/pdf/P19-2019-report-TriAgency-508.pdf) of salmonella infections are caused by consuming contaminated poultry. [United States Department of Agriculture](https://www.usda.gov/) (USDA) has declared salmonella an adulterant – that is, a contaminant that causes health concerns – in breaded and stuffed raw chicken products. These chicken products will be considered adulterated if they exceed a low level (likely to be set at one colony-forming unit (CFU), but may be set even stricter at zero tolerance) of Salmonella contamination.