The Litigated Dish: GAO Urges USDA to Strengthen Meat and Poultry Oversight

Today, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) once again highlighted what food safety advocates, public health organizations, and industry experts have known for years: the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must take immediate, “additional actions” to strengthen its oversight of meat and poultry products. Despite federal food safety being on GAO’s “High Risk List” since 2007, the USDA continues to face significant gaps in its regulation and enforcement of pathogen controls, leaving consumers exposed to unnecessary risks.

To its credit, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) took a significant step in May 2024 by designating Salmonella as an adulterant in certain “not ready-to-eat” breaded stuffed chicken products when present at specified levels—a decision that certainly caught the attention of the GAO. But while this was a promising move, the USDA has not kept up this momentum. Since then, FSIS has not finalized any new or updated pathogen standards for other types of meat and poultry products.

The GAO report makes it clear that the USDA’s focus has been too narrow, with FSIS prioritizing Salmonella standards for raw poultry while sidelining critical work on other products. As of January 2025, FSIS has yet to finalize standards for Salmonella in products like pork cuts, ground pork, or turkey parts, nor has it developed pathogen standards for Campylobacter in turkey parts. This failure to keep up with public health needs puts consumers at ongoing risk, especially as outbreaks continue to occur in products that have not had updated standards in years.

The absence of updated pathogen standards for beef, turkey, and pork leaves these products vulnerable to contamination, posing ongoing public health risks. Between 2018 to 2023, beef alone was linked to 29 of 52 major foodborne illness outbreaks caused by pathogens like Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and STEC (Shiga toxin-producing E. coli). These outbreaks resulted in over 3,200 infections and more than 800 hospitalizations—yet FSIS has not updated pathogen standards for raw ground beef and beef trimmings since the mid-1990’s, as shown in the table below.

The GAO emphasizes that outdated or nonexistent pathogen standards can contribute to increased foodborne illnesses. For example, while the prevalence of Salmonella has declined, the number of related human illnesses has not seen the same decrease. This disparity arises because current pathogen performance standards do not differentiate between Salmonella serotypes—some of which are more virulent and likely to cause more severe illness. The GAO’s proposed changes, including new standards targeting specific Salmonella serotypes, could help close this gap.

The GAO also raises concerns about FSIS’s limited authority over farms, where many pathogens are introduced before animals even reach slaughterhouses. While FSIS is responsible for inspecting meat and poultry products at processing plants, it lacks regulatory control over the conditions on farms where these products are raised. This gap in oversight means that pathogens can enter processing plants from farms, complicating FSIS’s efforts to reduce contamination. The GAO’s report suggests that FSIS and its sister agency, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), need to coordinate more effectively to address this problem.

To address these ongoing issues, the GAO has made five critical recommendations aimed at both FSIS and APHIS:

1. Develop a Prioritization Plan: FSIS should create a plan to prioritize which products need updated pathogen standards and outline the policies needed to address Salmonella in meat and Campylobacter in turkey parts.
2. Review Delayed Standards: FSIS should assess the public health impact of delaying new standards for Salmonellain meat and Campylobacter in turkey parts. This would help prioritize efforts and address any gaps in oversight.
3. Clarify Roles in Pathogen Oversight: FSIS should update its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with APHIS, or create a new agreement, to clearly identify pathogens of concern and specify each agency’s role in addressing these pathogens and investigating related outbreaks.
4. Enhance Inter-Agency Coordination: Likewise, APHIS should update its MOU with FSIS, or create a new agreement, to clearly identify pathogens of concern and specify each agency’s role in addressing these pathogens and investigating related outbreaks.
5. Improve Sanitation Education: FSIS should provide additional educational materials, such as signage and guidance, to its regulated plants to help improve sanitation practices.

The full GAO report is available here: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107613.pdf  

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