Secretary Rollins announces new plan to bolster meat and poultry safety
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced a comprehensive plan to bolster the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) efforts to combat foodborne illness while speaking at the opening of USDA’s new, modernized Midwestern Food Safety Laboratory in Normandy, Missouri.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring American consumers have the safest, most abundant, and affordable food supply in the world. When it comes to food safety, USDA is charting a bold new course in giving consumers confidence their meat, poultry, and egg products meet our best-in-class food safety standards,” said Secretary Rollins. “I look forward to continued collaboration across the Trump administration, with states, and with food producers from farm to table, to reduce foodborne illness and protect public health.”
USDA’s new plan to bolster food safety includes:
- Enhancing microbiological testing and inspection oversight;
- Equipping FSIS inspectors with updated training and tools;
- Charging ahead to reduce Salmonella illnesses;
- Strengthening state partnerships; and
- Empowering FSIS inspectors to take action to drive compliance.
“America’s chicken producers appreciate USDA’s common sense, and science-based approach to achieve improvements in food safety,” said Ashley Peterson, Ph.D., National Chicken Council SVP of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs. “We share the department’s goals to further reduce foodborne illness and promote public health with an emphasis on reducing regulatory burdens.
“We remain committed to working with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on an approach that will build on the industry’s tremendous progress in reducing Salmonella through policy that is based on sound science, is implementable, and will have a meaningful and measured impact on public health.”
NCC also applauded USDA for withdrawing earlier this year proposed Salmonella regulations that were introduced under the Biden administration.
“The Salmonella Framework as it was proposed was based on misinterpretations of the science, would have had no meaningful impact on public health, would have led to an extraordinary amount of food waste, and increased costs for producers and consumers,” added Peterson. “We thank Secretary Rollins for her leadership and USDA’s commitment to finding a more effective and achievable plan to address Salmonella in poultry products, and we look forward to collaborating on best approaches moving forward.”
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