WASHINGTON – Companies that produce ground chicken and turkey will be required to reassess their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Dec. 5. FSIS said companies have 90 days to conduct the HACCP reassessment.

“HACCP reassessments improve a company's ability to identify hazards and better prevent foodborne illness,” said USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen. “Incorporating information obtained from Salmonella outbreaks will enhance food safety efforts, helping to avoid future outbreaks and ensure a safer food supply for consumers.”

FSIS also announced that it will:

• Expand the Salmonella verification sampling program to include other raw comminuted poultry products, in addition to ground product;

• Increase the sample size for laboratory analysis to 325 grams from 25 grams to provide consistency as FSIS moves toward analyzing samples for Salmonella and Campylobacter; and,

• Conduct sampling to determine the prevalence of Salmonella in not-ready-to-eat comminuted poultry products and use the results to develop new performance standards for those products.

The notice is available at the FSIS website.