{"id":5675,"date":"2026-04-01T19:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/?p=5675"},"modified":"2026-04-01T19:32:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:32:49","slug":"farm-forward-urges-usda-to-regulate-animal-welfare-as-a-food-safety-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/news\/farm-forward-urges-usda-to-regulate-animal-welfare-as-a-food-safety-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm Forward Urges USDA to Regulate Animal Welfare as a Food Safety Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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For decades, the federal government has treated salmonella in chicken and turkey as a problem to manage at the slaughterhouse. That approach is failing, and it ignores where contamination actually begins.<\/span><\/p>\n

On January 14th, 2026, USDA\u2019s Food Safety and Inspection Service held a <\/span>public meeting<\/span><\/a> to discuss salmonella control in the poultry industry. Following that meeting, Farm Forward submitted a <\/span>public comment<\/span><\/a> informed by our <\/span>investigative report<\/span><\/a> on salmonella in the poultry industry. Grounded in this research, our conclusion is straightforward: salmonella is not just a slaughter and processing problem. It is a system-wide problem, built into how chickens and turkeys are bred, raised, and transported.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At its core, food safety is an animal welfare issue touching every stage of production. Any meaningful solution to salmonella contamination in the industry must start much earlier in the supply chain and include a consideration of the treatment of animals as a key factor in the spread of foodborne illnesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where the System Fails: Regulation Focuses Only on the Final Step<\/span><\/h3>\n

For decades, federal oversight has concentrated heavily on slaughter and processing facilities. While these are important control points, they represent just one stage in a long and complex production system, and ultimately, they come much too late.<\/span><\/p>\n

Salmonella emerges and spreads across multiple stages: breeding facilities, hatcheries, farms, transport systems, and finally, processing plants. By the time birds arrive for slaughter, many are already carrying the pathogen.<\/span><\/p>\n

This reality creates a mismatch between where contamination originates and where regulation is focused. As a result, processing plants are often expected to fix a problem that started many steps upstream, and this is a central reason why salmonella remains persistent in the U.S. poultry supply.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Reality: Contamination is a System-Wide Issue<\/h3>\n

Salmonella does not appear suddenly at the slaughterhouse. It spreads through nearly every stage of production.<\/span><\/p>\n

It All Starts with the Egg<\/b><\/h5>\n

USDA recognizes that <\/span>preventing salmonella begins at the very start of a chicken\u2019s life<\/span><\/a>, even before they hatch. Breeding facilities can be high-risk environments where infection spreads easily, especially because hens used for breeding have <\/span>weakened immune systems<\/span><\/a>, and vaccines alone are not enough to solve the problem, making improved conditions and animal care essential to combat foodborne disease.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contamination is Born at the Hatchery\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>\n

Hatcheries, too, are critical early points in the supply chain, yet they remain unregulated when it comes to salmonella control. <\/span>Research shows<\/span><\/a> that hatcheries can be major hubs of contamination, with pathogens spreading through shared equipment, surfaces, and transport systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Compounding the issue is <\/span>antimicrobial resistance emerging at significant rates<\/span><\/a> in hatcheries. The overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture has contributed to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of Salmonella, a problem widely recognized as a major public health threat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overcrowding and Filth Make Farms Breeding Grounds for Contamination<\/b><\/h5>\n

Once birds reach grow-out farms, the environment often amplifies the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Standard industrial poultry operations typically house tens of thousands of birds in close quarters. High stocking densities, combined with unsanitary conditions and chronic stress, <\/span>create ideal conditions for salmonella transmission<\/span><\/a>. The bacteria can spread through feces, litter, feed, and water, moving quickly from bird to bird.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transport: Salmonella Hits the Road<\/b><\/h5>\n

Transport is particularly risky<\/span><\/a> because birds are usually moved in open containers, allowing fecal matter to spread between animals as stacks of animals defecate on each other. <\/span>Stress during transport<\/span><\/a> can also increase pathogen shedding, compounding the problem. Inadequate cleaning of trucks and equipment further contributes to cross-contamination.<\/span><\/p>\n

Poultry Genetics and Disease Risk<\/strong><\/h5>\n

One of the more surprising drivers of contamination risk lies in poultry genetics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s chicken industry is dominated by genetically modified <\/span>fast-growing breeds designed for efficiency<\/span><\/a> and high production. These birds reach market weight in a fraction of the time it took decades ago. While this has made chicken more affordable, it has also introduced new vulnerabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast-growing birds<\/span><\/a> tend to have weaker immune systems and are more susceptible to infections like salmonella. They also experience significant physiological stress due to rapid growth, which can further compromise their health and resiliency to disease.<\/span><\/p>\n

In our comment, we pointed out that diversifying genetics, particularly by supporting heritage and <\/span>slower-growing, more resilient breeds<\/span><\/a>, could reduce disease susceptibility while also improving animal welfare. Current market dynamics, dominated by a small number of breeding companies, limit those options.<\/span><\/p>\n

Animal Welfare Is a Food Safety Issue<\/span><\/h3>\n

Taken together, these risk factors across the supply chain mean that contamination is more than an isolated failure; it is a predictable outcome of the current production model.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research establishes that poor animal welfare <\/span>directly contributes to higher levels of foodborne illness<\/span><\/a>. Stress weakens immune systems, making birds more vulnerable to infection and more likely to carry and shed pathogens. Scientific findings, <\/span>including those from USDA<\/span><\/a>, have shown that stressed animals are more likely to harbor foodborne bacteria in their systems, increasing the risk of contamination during processing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this, poultry are excluded from federal humane slaughter protections, and existing welfare guidelines, known as Good Commercial Practices, are nonbinding and inconsistently enforced.<\/span><\/p>\n

This creates a regulatory gap where conditions known to increase contamination risk are allowed to persist and birds are made to suffer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Food Safety Policy Gap: Where Standards Exist but Enforcement Falls Short<\/span><\/h3>\n

By the time poultry reaches slaughter and processing facilities, contamination is often already widespread.<\/span><\/p>\n

FSIS has developed performance standards and testing systems to monitor salmonella levels, and some plants consistently meet these benchmarks. This demonstrates that lower contamination levels are achievable.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the agency <\/span>has no authority to effectively regulate<\/span><\/a> this contamination. A <\/span>proposed rule<\/span><\/a> that would have classified certain levels of Salmonella as an adulterant, effectively making contaminated products illegal to sell, was <\/span>withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2025<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the key regulatory tools available to FSIS is the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system, which requires facilities to identify and manage potential hazards.<\/span><\/p>\n

In theory, this framework could be used to push food safety measures upstream by requiring suppliers to meet certain standards. In practice, this authority has not been fully utilized.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, without stronger enforcement authority, regulators are unable to prevent high-risk products from entering the market.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Real Reform Looks Like: Solutions to Reduce Salmonella in Poultry<\/span><\/h3>\n

Reducing salmonella in poultry requires a shift from <\/span>reacting <\/span><\/i>at the end of the supply chain to <\/span>preventing <\/span><\/i>contamination at its source. Farm Forward\u2019s recommendations outline a comprehensive path forward:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Address contamination at every stage of production, not just processing<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Strengthen enforcement by classifying Salmonella as an adulterant in raw poultry<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Improve animal welfare standards as a core component of food safety<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Expand oversight to include breeding, hatcheries, farms, transport, and feed systems<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Use existing regulatory tools (like HAACP) to require upstream controls<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Some of these steps can be taken immediately under existing authority. Others would require congressional action to expand USDA\u2019s regulatory powers.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The Bottom Line<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Reducing salmonella in poultry is both a technical challenge and a structural one, and USDA already has tools to meaningfully address contamination in the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But as long as the system treats contamination as a problem to be managed at the final stage, rather than prevented at its source\u2014and as long as USDA lacks authority to enforce salmonella prevention\u2014progress will be limited. The evidence is clear: food safety, animal welfare, and supply chain practices are closely connected. If regulators are serious about protecting public health, reform cannot stop at the slaughterhouse door.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":5677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,22,28,26],"tags":[63,66,64,58,57,52],"class_list":["post-5675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animal-welfare","category-food-system-solutions","category-legislation","category-public-health-pandemics","tag-alexandre","tag-animal-welfare","tag-certifications","tag-greenwashing","tag-humanewashing","tag-policy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}