Food safety Meat & Poultry BY ANDY NELSON THE US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE'S Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is significantly ramping up its efforts to reduce Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products. The agency is initiating several key activities to gather the data and information necessary to support future action and move closer to the national target of a 25% reduction in Salmonella illnesses. " Far too many consumers become ill every year from poultry contaminated by Salmonella, " said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. " We need to be constantly evolving in our efforts to prevent foodborne illness to stay one step ahead of the bad bugs. We're taking action to help prevent Salmonella contamination throughout the poultry supply chain and production system to protect public health. " Despite consistent reductions in the occurrence of Salmonella in poultry products, more than 1 million consumer illnesses due to Salmonella occur annually, and it is estimated that over 23% of those illnesses are due to consumption of chicken and turkey. " Reducing Salmonella infections attributable to poultry is one of the Department's top priorities, " said USDA Deputy Under Secretary Sandra 62 - JANUARY 2022 Far too many consumers become ill every year from poultry contaminated by Salmonella. We need to be constantly evolving in our efforts to prevent foodborne illness to stay one step ahead of the bad bugs. " USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. supermarketperimeter.com AGNORMARK, ALF RIBEIRO - STOCK.ADOBE.COMhttp://www.supermarketperimeter.com