WASHINGTON — Representatives Tracey Mann (R-Kan.) and Steve Womack (R-Ark.) rolled out new legislation that, if passed, would prevent the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) from carrying out its proposed Salmonella rule.
The agency developed its Salmonella framework in July, which was intended to reduce the pathogen’s presence in raw poultry products. Through the new rule, protocols would be instilled to keep the final product’s Salmonella levels below 10 colony-forming units, and any detectable Salmonella serotype of public health significance would be prohibited from entering commerce.
Critics of the framework have noted that data from USDA shows Salmonella outbreaks have decreased 60% since 2020 and that more than 97% of whole chicken have tested negative for Salmonella as recently as 2022.
Womack, chairman of the Congressional Chicken Caucus, and Mann, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry, introduced their legislation as a protection for poultry producers, whom the congressmen believe could be put out of business as a result of the rule.
“My bill blocks USDA from using taxpayer dollars to implement arbitrary science to burden American families, and it protects America’s livestock producers who work day in and day out to feed a hungry world,” Mann said.
Another protection intended through the bill is against rising costs that may face consumers as the USDA framework is implemented.
“The Biden administration’s proposed Salmonella framework places burdensome, unnecessary testing requirements on our nation’s poultry producers,” Womack said. “This leads to higher costs at the grocery store for consumers.”
The National Chicken Council (NCC) voiced support for the bill. NCC has been one of the several groups to have requested extensions on the comment period for the proposed Salmonella rule.