USDA Launches Plan to Bolster Meat, Poultry and Egg Safety

NORMANDY, Mo. — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins launched a plan designed to bolster the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) efforts to combat foodborne illness at the opening of the agency’s new, modernized Midwestern Food Safety Laboratory in Normandy, Mo., on July 15.

The plan better positions USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), responsible for ensuring meat, poultry and egg products are safe, wholesome and properly labeled, to protect the nation’s food supply, said the agency.

It includes the following five action steps:

1. Enhancing Microbiological Testing and Inspection Oversight

USDA said it is making continued enhancements to its Listeria testing method to provide quicker results to industry and to detect a broader set of Listeria species.

These additional results highlight conditions where Listeria monocytogenes can thrive in facilities producing ready-to-eat (RTE) products and help industry and FSIS identify potential sanitation problems. This year, FSIS has tested over 23,000 samples for Listeria, a more than 200% increase in samples from 2024, according to the agency.

To support enhanced testing efforts, FSIS has opened the new 70,000-square-foot Midwestern laboratory in Normandy, Mo., replacing an outdated laboratory in St. Louis. This new facility will play a critical role in analyzing verification samples for foodborne pathogens and chemical residues and will support efforts to streamline the FSIS laboratory system, said the agency.

FSIS is mobilizing its resources to perform more robust, in-person food safety assessments (FSAs), prioritizing RTE meat and poultry establishments, said USDA. This year, the agency completed has 440 FSAs, a 52% increase from the same time period in 2024, according to USDA. These reviews proactively identify and address potential food safety concerns, the agency said.

2. Equipping FSIS Inspectors with Updated Training and Tools

This year, FSIS implemented a new weekly questionnaire for frontline inspectors to collect data on specific Listeria monocytogenes-related risk factors at all RTE establishments. This new tool collects data to identify developing food safety concerns, allowing FSIS inspectors and their supervisors to take timely action to protect consumers, said USDA. To date, about 53,000 weekly questionnaires with more than 840,000 new data points have been collected on these risk factors, said the agency.

To complement this, FSIS continues to enhance its instructions and related training for inspectors to help them recognize and elevate problems with an establishment’s food safety system, said USDA. New instructions aid inspectors in recognizing how to look beyond individual noncompliances and determine when an establishment has systemic problems that should be elevated and addressed.

Since January, the agency has updated its Listeria-specific training and administered it to more than 5,200 frontline inspection personnel, said USDA. This training is designed to strengthen inspectors’ understanding of the regulatory requirements in FSIS’ Listeria Rule and how to verify that establishments have designed and implemented food safety systems that comply with those requirements, said the agency.

3. Reducing Salmonella Illnesses

Rollins has charged FSIS with finding a more effective, achievable approach to address Salmonella in poultry products, said USDA. FSIS withdrew its proposed Salmonella framework in April, citing concerns raised by stakeholders about the regulatory and financial burden it would have on small poultry growers and processors, according to USDA.

“The Trump administration is pursuing a new, common-sense strategy on Salmonella to protect public health while preventing unnecessary regulatory overreach, which will begin by convening listening sessions with key stakeholders to collaborate on best approaches moving forward,” said USDA in a July 15 statement.

4. Strengthening State Partnerships

In May, Rollins announced $14.5 million in funding to reimburse states for their meat and poultry inspection programs and called on Congress to more sustainably fund these programs moving forward. This funding is needed to support more than 1,500 American businesses that rely on state inspection, including small and very small meat and poultry processors, said USDA.

Rollins also signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in May to improve collaboration between USDA and states moving forward.

This year, FSIS signed updated cooperative agreements with all 29 states that operate state meat and poultry programs. These agreements clarify expectations for oversight and enforcement of food safety laws, provide training for inspectors and ensure regular coordination with FSIS, said USDA.

As part of its enhanced oversight of Talmadge-Aiken (TA) state cooperative programs, FSIS has completed in-person reviews at 77% (320 of 414) of TA establishments in the first six months of 2025, according to the agency.

5. Empowering FSIS Inspectors to Take Action to Drive Compliance

FSIS is exercising its enforcement authorities and issuing notices of intended enforcement or suspending operations at establishments to address recurring noncompliance and ensure safe food production, said USDA.

The agency has taken 103 enforcement actions in 2025 to protect consumers, an increase of 36% over the same period in 2024, according to the agency. Additionally, FSIS has instructed its field supervisors to conduct in-person, follow-up visits when systemic issues are identified during a food safety assessment. Follow-up visits by FSIS field supervisors will bolster oversight to ensure an establishment fully addresses issues identified during a food safety assessment and could inform enforcement action by FSIS, said USDA.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring American consumers have the safest, most abundant and affordable food supply in the world,” said Rollins. “When it comes to food safety, USDA is charting a bold new course in giving consumers confidence their meat, poultry and egg products meet our best-in-class food safety standards. I look forward to continued collaboration across the Trump administration, with states and with food producers from farm to table to reduce foodborne illness and protect public health.”