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# Mixed Results Shown in USDA Quarterly Tests for Salmonella and Campylobacter in Poultry
- URL: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2015/04/mixed-results-shown-in-usda-quarterly-tests-for-salmonella-and-campylobacter-in-poultry/
- Published: 2015-04-30T05:04:20.000Z
- Updated: 2018-07-31T06:33:11.000Z
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Government Agencies, Nutrition & Public Health, Science & Research, Campylobacter, food safety, Food Safety and Inspection Service, FSIS, pathogen testing, poultry testing, quarterly report, Salmonella, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-25 08:58

Last summer’s preliminary data from *Salmonella* and *Campylobacter* testing of raw meat and poultry for USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are out, and there were mixed results. During the July-September quarter, FSIS collected and tested 3,985 samples for its *Salmonella* and *Campylobacter* verification program. The percent-positive rates for both *Salmonella* and *Campylobacter* in young chickens were both up, at 4.1 and 6.9 percent, respectively, from 2,396 samples taken at 171 broiler establishments. In the previous quarter (April-June 2014), the percent positive for *Salmonella* was 3.1 percent and 5.1 for *Campylobacter*.

[![http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-food-safety-concept-quality-control-expert-inspecting-poultry-specimen-laboratory-image49867307](http://foodsafetynewsfullservice.marlersites.com/files/2015/04/Poultry-testing-in-lab-3.jpg)](http://foodsafetynewsfullservice.marlersites.com/files/2015/04/Poultry-testing-in-lab-4.jpg?ref=foodsafetynews.com)

As with data reported for previous quarters, there is a wide range in the positive percentages depending on the size of the processing plant. Large plants for young chickens turned in a 1.5-percent positive rate for *Salmonella* and just 1.3 percent for *Campylobacter*. Small plants had percent-positive rates for *Salmonella* of 4.1 and 7.9 for *Campylobacter*. The rates for very small plants were 15 percent for *Salmonella* and 28.3 percent for *Campylobacter*. The upside of the mixed results was found in the preliminary data for turkeys. Sampling of turkeys found *Salmonella* in 1.9 percent and *Campylobacter* in 1.2 percent. Those positive rates were down from the previous quarter when the positive *Salmonella* rate was found to be 2.7 percent and the *Campylobacter-*positive rate was 3.4 percent. In the raw meat sampling, a 3.3-percent *Salmonella* positive rate was found in ground beef during the quarter, up from the previous quarter’s 3.2 percent. FSIS has added a category called Not Ready to Eat (NRTE) comminuted poultry sampling for finished products, which replaces “ground chicken” and “ground turkey” categories. The *Salmonella*\-positive rate for that category was 46.8 percent, and the *Campylobacter* positive rate was 7.6 percent. The complete 10-page report can be found [here](http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/microbiology/quarterly-reports-salmonella/q3-cy2014/q3-cy-2014?ref=foodsafetynews.com).