Walmart Is Improving Poultry Safety Protocols

By Sam Lewis

In an effort to protect consumers from foodborne illness, the retail giant announced on Thursday, December, 18 that it will implement heightened measures of safety for its poultry suppliers.

Walmart and Sam’s club announced on Thursday, December 18 its plans to implement enhanced, poultry-safety measures which it developed with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC’s Dr. Chris Braden, the initiative from the Arkansas-based retailer aims to reduce Salmonella and contamination from other pathogens, in poultry at the retail level. According to the CDC’s Dr. Chris Baden, “CDC, along with Walmart, recognizes that reducing Salmonella and other pathogen contamination in poultry products is a crucial step towards decreasing the burden of foodborne illness.” Baden continues, “Walmart and CDC working together to protect public health and advance food safety is a great example of a public-private relationship that benefits everyone.”

The new guidelines will further Walmart’s food-safety program which currently requires supplier of poultry products to attain “prevention-based certification against one of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) internationally recognized standards.” While the company has announced the protocols, the guideline itself is currently not publicly available. However, Walmart says the protocols have been scrutinized by several stakeholders, including academia, law makers, consumer groups, as well as the company’s poultry suppliers. Additionally, the new program will require the retailer’s suppliers to implement “holistic controls from farm to fork” and undergo specific testing and validations proving the effectives of the measures.

Texas A&M’s Center for Food Safety director, Dr. Gary Acuff says, “Walmart’s implementation of enhanced safety measures for poultry products provides leadership for the food industry and continues a progressive approach to providing the safest possible food.” Further, Acuff believes the new protocols are “a smart, science-supported move that will greatly benefit consumers.” Walmart’s poultry suppliers will have until June of 2016 to be fully compliant with the company’s updated poultry-safety protocols.