FSIS Risk Assessment for
Guiding Public Health-Based
Poultry Slaughter Inspection
Prepared by
Risk Assessment Division
Office of Public Health Science
Food Safety and Inspection Service
United States Department of Agriculture
January 2008
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Public Health-based Poultry Slaughter Inspection
January 2008
Risk Assessment
Executive Summary
BACKGROUND
Food Safety and Inspection Service on-line inspectors examine every young poultry
carcass to ensure it is unadulterated, free of feathers, bruises, and defects and disease.
FSIS off-line inspectors verify that establishments maintain sanitary operations and
perform other health and safety-related assignments. By allowing FSIS personnel to
perform additional wholesomeness, sanitation, sampling, and other offline procedures, it
may be possible to reduce the number of human illnesses from Salmonella.
RISK MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS
This risk assessment addresses four risk management questions:
Can FSIS reallocate inspection activities in young chicken slaughter
establishments without significant negative impact on microbial
prevalence in the establishments?
How will the relocation of on-line inspectors to off-line duties, or
other areas within or outside the establishment, affect human illness?
Where within the establishment can relocated inspection activities
have the most impact toward reducing microbial prevalence and
corresponding human illness?
What is the uncertainty about these effects?
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Public Health-based Poultry Slaughter Inspection
January 2008
Risk Assessment
STRUCTURE AND SCOPE
This is a quantitative microbial food safety risk assessment. It evaluates variations in
personnel assignments and inspection activities in FSIS poultry slaughter facilities with
the prevalence of Salmonella on young chicken and, subsequently, attributable
salmonellosis in humans. Data used in the risk assessment came from several sources.
Data for