FSIS announced its Salmonella Action Plan on December 4, 20131 . In the plan, FSIS stated that it would complete a risk assessment and develop Salmonella performance standards for comminuted poultry during fiscal year 2014. In addition, FSIS stated that it would announce and request comment in the Federal Register on the setting of pathogen reduction performance standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter during fiscal year 2014 for raw chicken parts. This risk assessment describes the motivation, data sources, and analytical methods used in the development of the new pathogen reduction performance standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter for these products.

The new and revised performance standards are designed to achieve The Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) goal for Salmonella as it relates to poultry products, which is to achieve a 25% reduction in human illnesses attributed to poultry by the year 2020 (HHS 2010). The HP2020 goal for Campylobacter is to achieve a 33% reduction during the same time period (HHS 2010). The 25% and 33% reduction targets represent FSIS policy choices. Healthy People 2020 does not provide product-specific goals. The Salmonella and Campylobacter goals are with respect to a 2006-08 baseline. Therefore, any reductions achieved through the 2011 Salmonella and Campylobacter performance standards for young chicken and turkey would apply to meeting the Healthy People goal. FSIS predicted that the 2011 performance standards would reduce Salmonella illnesses by 12% and Campylobacter illnesses by 3%.

The risk assessment describes how counts of the Salmonella- and Campylobacter-positive samples, collected at a rate of roughly once per week, will be used to categorize establishments as either passing or failing the performance standard. Reductions in the number of salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis cases are estimated to occur after establishments apply corrective actions that reduce the occurrence of these pathogenic bacteria. 

A common analytical framework is used to estimate the improvements in public health associated with six performance standards. Following implementation of the performance standards, the model presents different scenarios under which a 25% reduction in salmonellosis cases attributed to chicken and turkey could occur. The model also describes different scenarios under which reductions in Campylobacter illnesses could occur, but the full 33% reduction could not be achieved for all products types using existing sampling methods and under the assumed response by industry.