The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) launched a new comprehensive focus on reducing Salmonella illnesses caused by poultry products. A key component encouraged by FSIS is to consider preharvest controls to reduce Salmonella contamination coming into the plant.¹

For years, CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has attributed a large portion of foodborne illnesses to Salmonella associated with chickens, turkey and eggs.^2,3 FSIS is looking to reduce these Salmonella illnesses by working with poultry companies on advancing initiatives such as pilot projects, preharvest controls and quantitative measures of Salmonella loads.¹

While poultry producers, processors and consumers all play an important role in preventing foodborne illnesses, Salmonella in poultry originates preharvest and can proliferate at farms without a comprehensive Salmonella reduction strategy. This is where poultry producers and live operations managers play a crucial role.

A Holistic 360° Approach to Preharvest Salmonella Reduction

A holistic approach to managing and preventing Salmonella preharvest can be divided into five major components:

1. Salmonella Vaccine Programs

A vaccination program is the first step to build bird immunity and help prevent Salmonella colonization. When Salmonella is an issue at the plant, it is due to colonization of the pathogen within birds at the farm. Vaccines are used strategically early in the process to address the root cause of the problem. Comprehensive Salmonella vaccination programs in breeders and meat birds, when consistently applied over time, have been successfully used in broilers4 and turkeys.⁵

There are two groups of vaccines — inactivated and live — and each plays a role in poultry health and pathogen reduction. When Salmonella vaccines decrease pathogen loads coming into the plant, the in-plant interventions have an improved likelihood of effectiveness.

2. Intestinal Integrity Programs

Bird health and food safety go hand in hand. That’s why it’s important for producers to consider products that promote Intestinal Integrity by reducing coccidiosis, necrotic enteritis, and other areas of damage to Intestinal Integrity. The intestinal wall acts as a physical barrier preventing the colonization of harmful bacteria or otherwise harmful pathogens that could lead to food safety concerns down the line.

An effective Intestinal Integrity program includes careful planning with ionophores and non-antibiotic Intestinal Integrity products, as well as management strategies. When issues arise, producers can evaluate and adjust their disease prevention program to maintain Intestinal Integrity.

3. Nutritional and Functional Feed Supplements

The advancement of functional feed ingredients in recent years has been a valuable benefit for decreasing pathogens at the farm. These feed ingredients include a variety of modes of action to reduce Salmonella. Such products may serve as prebiotics, probiotics, competitive exclusion products, acidifiers, gut oxygen modulators, pathogen agglutination compounds and numerous other roles.

One of the most important functions some of these nutritional health products provide is improving the intestinal wall physiology, such as increased villi length and tighter gap junctions. These attributes not only lead to reduced pathogen colonization but also can improve nutrient absorption, leading to improved bird growth performance.

4. Insect and Rodent Control Programs

Controlling insects and rodents is often seen as a way to manage the well-being and performance potential of a poultry flock, but this should also be considered a crucial strategy for reducing Salmonella proliferation at the farm.

Common pests, such as darkling beetles, mites, flies and rodents, can carry Salmonella and other pathogens into poultry barns. An effective IPM program can address infestations, create a cleaner environment for the birds and reduce the potential for Salmonella to further enter operations.

5. Poultry Farm Best Management Practices

Other strategies used by the industry are important to reduce Salmonella proliferation preharvest, including optimal feed and water management, hygiene and disinfection of the poultry house, litter management and biosecurity measures. A comprehensive program tailored to control and manage disease will not only help the flock achieve its full potential, but also help minimize food safety risks originating from the farm.

Working Together To Reduce Salmonella in Poultry Production

Reducing the risk of Salmonella in poultry products is an enormous responsibility, and one that can’t be placed on the plant alone. Pathogen reduction can be successful at multiple steps along the entire continuum from farm to plant. Improved technologies in Salmonella quantification and detection have made measuring the impact of preharvest interventions more attainable than ever before.

By reducing Salmonella infections in live-bird operations, poultry producers can decrease the likelihood that Salmonella will be a problem at the processing plant and beyond.

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