My first go at consulting was over a decade ago, and a few of my clients were in the poultry industry. At the time, there were questions about whether the amount of Salmonella (quantification) was more important than straight prevalence (frequency of finding a positive, even if levels were low). I had the pleasure of working with top-notch industry experts to flesh out these ideas in a publication.¹ A decade later, people occasionally bring up this article and its relevance today; in August 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) began quantifying Salmonella in raw poultry rinses. I have to wonder: Why is change so slow?

A co-author on that paper, Dr. Angie Siemens with Cargill, reflects, "The publication in 2014 was presented after a series of Salmonella public health incidences and proposed a potential new pathway for controlling that portion of product with the greatest potential of creating illness. It was not revolutionary, as the approach had been used in other countries. It is a shame that the focus on current Salmonella Performance Standard metrics continued with little consideration of alternatives, until recently."