Apparently, a Little Salmonella in Poultry is Okay. But Should It Really Be? | Episode 144
🍽️ Francine and Matt are building a global, fun, and inclusive Food Safety Family! From the C-suite to the kitchen, they’re making safe food the norm everywhere.
In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are, unfortunately, talking once more about poultry and salmonella.
They are unpacking the concerning Farm Forward Salmonella and Foodborne Disease Report released in October 2025. The results showed elevated levels of salmonella contamination in grocery store poultry samples.
Tune in to discover why poultry-related salmonella infections persist in the US, including how USDA standards fall short, the industry pushback, and what can be done to reverse this situation.
In this episode:
0:00:00 The report that found salmonella in poultry
0:09:47 The unmet USDA salmonella contamination limits
0:11:58 How poultry should follow other industries' standards
0:17:56 Lessons from the US beef industry and the EU
0:22:09 The safe temperature to cook poultry
Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.
Resources from this episode
Read the LA Times article Matt and Francine refer to in this episode and the original Farm Forward Report.
Francine's LinkedIn Post with a picture of turkey packaging that showed improper handling procedures.
Just in case you need a refresher on how to safely handle poultry, catch up with Episode 73 | Don’t Wash Your Chicken, Seriously.
Watch Bill Marler and Dr. Darin Detwiler’s Emmy award-winning documentary, Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food.
Noteworthy quotes from this episode
“ While I'm not for ending commercial chicken farming, I am for ending salmonella in one-third or over 400,000 of the cases annually in consumers. You can be for commercial farming and also against poisoning people.” – Matt Regusci
“ For the industry to take this attitude is just, I believe, irresponsible on their part. It shows, in my opinion, just a total lack of disregard for consumers because they've got the ability to correct it. They're choosing not to [deal with salmonella].” – Francine L Shaw
We hope you enjoy this episode!
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