With four steps, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has taken a giant leap in poultry food safety, reporting a decrease of the frequency of Salmonella contamination of chicken parts to 2 percent.
- Primary breeder stock interventions to reduce vertical transmission of Salmonella to broiler flocks and application of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Poultry Improvement Plan;
- Bio-control measures including vaccinations of broiler/breeder flocks and use of disease prevention best practices;
- Whole chicken process control using Regulatory Approved Intervention(s) to achieve 4-log reduction of Salmonella spp; and
- Chicken parts intervention practices to achieve 1-log reduction of Salmonella spp.
With Wal-Mart’s U.S. chicken suppliers accounting for 80 percent of all chickens sold in the United States, Yiannas said the enhanced food safety requirements imposed by the retailer are having an impact on chicken sold by other entities.