Salmonella Reporting Comment

February 26, 2008 U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service Docket Clerk 1400 Independence Ave. SW Rm. 2534 Washington, DC 20250 RE: Comments on Salmonella Verification Sample Sampling Program: Response to Comments and New Agency Policies (Docket No. FSIS-2006-0034) The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) appreciates this opportunity to comment on the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new policies on the Salmonella Verification Sampling Program. CSPI is a non-profit consumer advocacy and education organization that focuses largely on food safety and nutrition issues. It is supported principally by the 900,000 subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and by foundation grants. CSPI supports the improvements made to the Salmonella testing program—in particular the posting of test results—by FSIS, and encourages the agency to expand the program to include the posting of results from Category 1 plants. Additional improvements, such as reducing line speeds, should also be considered to protect public health. Background Salmonella infections cause an estimated 1.4 million illnesses and 400 deaths annually in 1the United States. While the incidence of several other foodborne pathogens has decreased significantly from 1996 to 2006, the incidence of Salmonella infections has only seen a modest 1 Voetsch AC, Van Gilder T J, Angulo ...