In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Brandon Carter, D.V.M., Food Safety Technical Advisor for Elanco Animal Health, about the importance of pre-harvest diagnostics in food safety risk management.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published the long-anticipated Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Final Rule, fulfilling Subpart E of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule.

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, and, subsequently, strategies to control or reduce the risk from this microorganism at both the pre-and post-harvest stages. Part 2 of this article series examines pre-harvest controls during grow-out.

Salmonella prevalence has decreased significantly in the past three decades due to processing changes, but human illness cases from Salmonella have not decreased proportionally. 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, and, subsequently, strategies to control or reduce the risk from this microorganism at both the pre-and post-harvest stages.