Determined to combat foodborne illnesses, regulating agencies such as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved to strengthen oversight of meat and poultry processors and other food manufacturers in an effort to protect consumers from foodborne illness.
In 2024, USDA made significant strides in Salmonella and Listeria prevention, while FDA launched a revamped Human Foods Program focused on its risk management capabilities. Industry stakeholders know these policy and organizational pivots will carry over into 2025.
Locked on Listeria
Outbreaks of Listeria monocytogenes linked to ready-to-eat meat and poultry products and deli meats generated headlines. Most recently, Yu Shang Food Inc. of Spartanburg, SC, launched a recall of RTE meat and poultry products when Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) testing confirmed the company’s products were contaminated by Listeria and making people sick.
As of Dec. 5, 2024, 19 people from eight states had been infected with the outbreak strains of Listeria, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In California, a mother and her twins were sick and both infants died. Listeria was found in a sample from the mother and from one of the twin infants, however it could not be found in a sample from the other infant. Because of this, only the mother and one twin are included as confirmed cases in this outbreak.
In Tennessee, a mother and her infant were sick and her infant died. And, of 19 people with information available, 17 were hospitalized.
Prior to the Yu Shang Food outbreak, public health officials linked liverwurst and other deli meats made at a Boar’s Head Provisions plant in Jarrett, Va., to 61 cases of listeriosis across 19 states. CDC reported 10 deaths and 60 hospitalizations linked to that outbreak.
In response, USDA-FSIS announced new measures aimed at strengthening the agency’s oversight of meat, poultry and egg processing facilities. The agency detailed new measures to be implemented within 30 days of the announcement that came on Dec. 17. The changes fall into three categories: enhancing the agency’s science-based approach to mitigate foodborne pathogens, with a key focus on Listeria monocytogenes; improving training and tools for the inspection workforce; and evolving its oversight of regulated facilities, with an emphasis on data review and state inspection agreements.
Effective January 2025, FSIS will add broader Listeria species testing to all samples of ready-to-eat products, environmental and food contact surfaces, a move the agency expects will help provide more information about the effectiveness of a facility’s sanitation program and can signal to FSIS if follow up is needed.
Additionally, FSIS intends to leverage the expertise of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF), which provides scientific advice and recommendations to USDA and other government agencies on microbiological and public health issues. FSIS began accepting nominations for NACMCF membership Dec. 20. In 2025, USDA plans to appoint 30 committee members whose work will include reviewing FSIS’s regulatory approach to Listeria monocytogenes.
Additional actions intended to strengthen FSIS’ inspection and oversight include:
Equipping FSIS inspectors with updated training and tools to recognize and respond to systemic food safety issues – Under this initiative, FSIS will update its instructions and training for food safety inspectors to better equip the workforce to recognize and highlight systemic problems in a standardized way. Agency inspectors will receive updated instructions and training, and FSIS field supervisors will routinely review these instructions with inspectors to ensure full understanding and appropriate application. Inspectors will also receive supplemental Listeria monocytogenes control training designed to help strengthen inspectors’ understanding of the regulatory requirements in FSIS’s Listeria Rule and how to verify establishments have designed and implemented food safety systems that comply with those requirements.
FSIS also will conduct Food Safety Assessments (in-depth food safety reviews) at ready-to-eat meat and poultry facilities. In fiscal 2025, FSIS is prioritizing completion of Food Safety Assessments at ready-to-eat meat and poultry facilities that rely exclusively on sanitation measures to control for Listeria. These reviews will provide information about the plants individually and collectively and could inform future policy or process changes to target this microorganism.
FSIS field supervisors will conduct in-person, follow-up visits when systemic issues are identified during a Food Safety Assessment.
Tightening oversight of regulated establishments, including those under state inspection models – FSIS inspectors will verify specific Listeria monocytogenes-related risk factors at ready-to-eat facilities weekly. These risk factors include changes in physical plant modifications, such as new construction; indicators of sanitation problems, such as condensation, roof leaks, damaged equipment, or cracked floors; and Listeria species or Listeria monocytogenes positive test results from company testing. FSIS district offices, agency field supervisors and inspectors will review, analyze and consider the weekly data from each facility to determine if there are systemic issues that warrant further action, such as a Food Safety Assessment, intensified sampling, or enforcement steps. Additionally, FSIS will clarify state and federal requirements for consistent oversight of Talmadge-Aiken (TA) programs through updated cooperative agreements and instructions. Facilities operating as Talmadge-Aiken plants have inspectors from state agencies performing federal food safety inspections.
FSIS will set specific requirements, including clear expectations for oversight, enforcing federal food safety laws, comprehensive federal training for TA inspectors, and enhanced regular coordination with FSIS via updated cooperative agreements with each participating state. FSIS also will designate field and headquarters positions assigned to TA oversight; will clarify training requirements and criteria to start, maintain and terminate state inspection coverage of an establishment.
Finally, FSIS will revise establishment-review alert triggers – A monthly list of facilities with higher rates of noncompliance related to public health is one significant criterion used to guide a district office’s decision to conduct a Public Health Risk Evaluation (PHRE), which typically precedes a Food Safety Assessment. This list is generated using an algorithm. Using additional data from the new weekly verification of Listeria monocytogenes-related risk factors, FSIS intends to update its algorithm and triggers to better identify high-risk facilities.
FSIS said the agency is continuing to identify additional steps that would improve control of Listeria monocytogenes, dependent on funding availability.

Rethinking Salmonella status
In another significant policy change, USDA-FSIS announced that Salmonella would be declared an adulterant in raw breaded stuffed chicken products when the pathogen exceeds a specific threshold. FSIS first announced its intention to declare Salmonella an adulterant in 2022 as part of a proposed regulatory framework intended to help control Salmonella contamination in poultry products. The agency finalized its new Salmonella policy in April 2024.
“Under President Biden’s leadership, USDA is taking significant steps toward keeping American consumers safe from foodborne illness,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the announcement of the policy change. “This final determination marks the first time that Salmonella is being declared an adulterant in a class of raw poultry products. This policy change is important because it will allow us to stop the sale of these products when we find levels of Salmonella contamination that could make people sick.”
FSIS will consider to be adulterated any raw breaded stuffed chicken products that include a chicken component that tested positive for Salmonella at 1 colony forming unit (CFU) per gram or higher. The agency said it will implement verification procedures, including sampling and testing of the chicken component of the product prior to stuffing and breading.
Breaded stuffed raw chicken products are pre-browned and may appear cooked. However, these items contain raw vegetables, butter, cheese, or meat such as poultry or ham. FSIS reasoned that consumers may have difficulty determining an accurate internal temperature of these products because they contain multiple ingredients that may cook at different rates. Industry stakeholders argued that not all Salmonella serotypes impact public health. The US Poultry& Egg Association said research projects are underway to determine whether reductions in foodborne illness can be achieved by regulating Salmonella and poultry using metrics that account for different impacts of specific strains, or high levels on the risk of the disease.
Department merger
The FDA’s Human Foods Program (HFP) officially started Oct. 1, 2024. The program, designed to protect and promote public health through science-based approaches, centralizes the agency’s risk management activities into three main areas that run on parallel tracks: microbiological food safety, food chemical safety and nutrition.
The Office of Microbiological Food Safety works to advance strategies to prevent pathogen-related foodborne illness. The Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation focuses on food chemical safety and dietary supplement policy and coordinates on regulatory and scientific issues for foods made through implementing innovative technologies.
And the Nutrition Center of Excellence will focus on nutrition science, policy, and initiatives to help reduce diet-related chronic diseases, improve health equity, and ensure the nutritional adequacy and safety of infant formula.
The Human Foods Program was born from restructuring FDA’s food program by combining the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of Food Policy and Response and certain aspects of the Office of Regulatory Affairs.