USDA is withdrawing a proposal that sought to reduce Salmonella in poultry

The Trump administration is withdrawing a Biden-era proposal that aimed to reduce Salmonella in raw poultry products, arguing the new rule would have imposed “significant financial and operational burdens on American businesses and consumers,” the Agriculture Department said Thursday.

The proposed rule, which the Biden administration unveiled last year, would have created new safety standards in an effort to prevent the sale of raw chicken and chicken parts contaminated with certain levels or types of Salmonella. It would have also overhauled safety procedures and testing for poultry slaughterhouses to prevent Salmonella contamination.

Salmonella bacteria is a leading cause of foodborne illness and causes about 1.35 million infections in the U.S. every year, most commonly through contaminated food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The Meat Institute, a trade group representing meat and poultry processors, had appealed to President Donald Trump to withdraw the proposal and put forward a different one, describing it as among the “costly and burdensome” steps taken by the Biden administration. 

The Department of Agriculture, which oversees the meat and poultry industry, said the proposed rule did not address the pathogen effectively.

The USDA said that the decision was made in light of public comments on the proposed rule, which it said required more consideration, and that it would evaluate whether an update to standards was warranted. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) listed it as “withdrawn” on the Federal Register Thursday.

The USDA said in a statement the agency prioritized public health “and is committed to further assessing its approach for addressing Salmonella in poultry products in ways that will yield results that protect consumers, not just impose regulatory burdens on American producers and consumers.”

The National Chicken Council, another industry group, praised the Trump administration’s move, saying in a statement that the Biden-era proposal would have increased costs for consumers while having “no meaningful impact on public health.”

“We remain committed to further reducing Salmonella and fully support food safety regulations and policies that are based on sound science, robust data, and are demonstrated to meaningfully impact public health,” the group added.

But Sandra Eskin, a former USDA official who helped work on the proposal, said the decision to retreat was a mistake that could significantly delay and derail critical food safety reforms.

“The bottom line is that thousands of people every year get Salmonella infections from poultry products, some life-threatening or worse,” said Eskin, now CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness, an advocacy group. “My concern is that we will not see a reduction of illnesses from Salmonella soon enough.”