WASHINGTON — The National Chicken Council (NCC) provided details about its response to the proposed rule to reduce Salmonella in raw poultry products.

After reviewing the proposed rule by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), NCC felt it would be unnecessary, raise costs for producers and consumers and lead to an “extraordinary amount of food waste with no impact on public health.”

“NCC and our member companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars and have worked for decades to develop and refine best practices to reduce Salmonella and protect public health,” said Gary Kushner, interim president of NCC.

The NCC cited data from the FSIS showing that 97% of whole birds and 93% of chicken parts tested negative for Salmonella at a plant over the last year. 

The association said in the last five years, 31 CDC Salmonella illness outbreak investigations were linked to food, and one involved chicken.

“We remain committed to further reducing Salmonella and fully support changes in food safety regulations that are based on sound science, robust data, and are demonstrated to positively impact public health,” Kushner said. “However, we are concerned this proposal is not based on any of those. Instead of sound science and robust data, the proposed rule continuously references agenda-driven, activist organizations to substantiate these sweeping changes.”

Kushner said NCC and others in the chicken industry attempted to engage with FSIS for two years during the formulation of the proposed Salmonella Framework but felt their output was “largely disregarded.”

“There is no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all approach to food safety, which is why we employ a multi-stage strategy,” he said. “Passing a law or regulation to fight bacteria will not magically make it disappear. This proposal will raise the price of chicken and cause millions of pounds of safe-to-eat, if properly prepared, chicken to be sent to landfills rather than dinner tables – an unconscionable thought given there are 44 million Americans who are food insecure.”

Other concerns raised by the NCC included the requirement of holding raw chicken for days while waiting for test results to come back, which would impact the product’s shelf life.

Another item NCC mentioned was the impact on product flow throughout the plant. Salmonella testing may affect the flow of birds to the plant for processing, which could negatively impact the health and welfare of the birds.

The trade association said the proposed rule “drastically underestimates the cost to the industry whether it’s testing, holding, diverting product or other factors.

NCC said the FSIS shouldn’t provide guidance to industry on how product should be lotted, what data they will accept to substantiate the size of a lot, or any other clarification. 

“This will have a disproportionately negative impact on small and very small establishments and potentially drive them out of business entirely,” the trade association concluded.

NCC plans to provide comments to the Federal Register on the proposed regulatory policy.