In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we talk with Martin Wiedmann, Ph.D., D.V.M., the Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety and Food Science at Cornell University, about his research on Listeria and Salmonella, his work to strengthen foodborne illness surveillance and response, his use of whole genome sequencing (WGS), and other topics.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data on from humans, animals, and food are compiled annually by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in a yearly EU Summary Report. Alongside the report, EFSA has also published data visualization tools and resources on AMR on zoonotic pathogens in Europe.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has published a guidance document for the Pathogen Reduction Monitoring Program (PRMP) for Salmonella and Campylobacter in raw poultry, which provides a means to verify that overall food safety control measures are effective in reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter contamination in raw poultry and poultry products to maximum pathogen limits described by CIFA.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) published a report that highlights multi-year trends for antimicrobial resistance among Salmonella from data collected by the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) during 2014–2019.

bioMérieux’s new GENE-UP® ENVIROPRO™ detects both Salmonella and Listeria from environmental swabbing, including PCR confirmation.

A new study has linked Salmonella exposure to a heightened risk of colon cancer, underlining the importance of preventing foodborne illness through good food safety practices.

Researchers are exploring the potential of protective bacterial cultures to mitigate the growth of foodborne pathogens that have developed antimicrobial resistance.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we talk to Sandra Eskin, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and head of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Sandra discusses FSIS' approach to mitigating Salmonella in poultry, including the agency’s Proposed Regulatory Framework to Reduce Salmonella Illnesses Attributable to Poultry.

To understand and eventually reduce the risk of salmonellosis from poultry meat, it is necessary to understand the poultry production system, the introduction of the microorganism into the poultry ecosystem (as well as its gastrointestinal tract), the sources of Salmonella during production, subsequently, strategies to control or reduce the risk from this microorganism at both the pre-and post-harvest stages. Part 3 of this article will focus on post-harvest controls during processing to minimize the risk of Salmonella from poultry products.

Data from OzFoodNet has shown campylobacterosis and salmonellosis to be the most common foodborne illnesses reported in Australia in 2017.