WHAT HAPPENED: USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report recently, Signaling Food Safety: Pathogen Rates of Raw Poultry With Food Safety Certifications (ERR-362). It examines whether third-party food safety certifications are associated with lower pathogen rates in raw poultry. The certifications studied are SQF, BRCGS and FSSC 22000, all recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
WHAT IT LOOKED AT: The researchers analyzed FSIS raw poultry sampling data from 592 establishments collected between October 2023 and March 2024. That covered 13,837 Salmonella tests and 7,519 Campylobacter tests across chicken carcasses, chicken parts, ground chicken and turkey products. About 73% of samples came from certified establishments.
KEY FINDINGS:
- Salmonella: Products from certified establishments were about 4 to 6 percentage points less likely to test positive than products from uncertified establishments. The overall positive rate across all samples was 8.4%.
- Campylobacter: Results were mixed and inconclusive. Only FSSC 22000 showed a statistically significant reduction, and that finding rests on just two establishments and 22 samples. The overall positive rate was 18%.
- By product and plant size: Though marginal, the more notable Salmonella reductions occurred in whole chicken carcasses (about 8%) and at very small and small establishments (about 7%).
LIMITATIONS: The authors conclude that certified poultry products are at least as safe as uncertified products. Certification was consistently associated with lower Salmonella rates, but its link to lower Campylobacter rates was inconsistent so no conclusions were drawn. They note that GFSI benchmarks do not set product pathogen targets, and they suggest stronger pathogen-related standards could help certifications signal risk reduction more clearly. The authors also caution that the study shows correlation, not causation. It draws on only six months of data, and establishments that choose to get certified may differ from others in ways the data can’t capture.
