Incidence, sources, and control of food-borne Salmonella spp. in poultry feeds

Transmission of food-poisoning salmonellae in the poultry industry is often associated with a contaminated feed supply. Occurrence of food-borne Salmonella spp. continues to be documented on poultry feeds and feed ingredients. This is in part due to the wide variety of environmental origins for Salmonella spp. and its ability to easily cross-contaminate during feed processing and storage. Since Salmonella spp. have been shown to survive for several months under feed storage conditions, they can remain a persistent problem for poultry production. Limiting Salmonella spp. contamination of poultry feeds requires application of surveillance approaches during feed manufacturing and distribution along with the introduction of effective intervention and hurdle technologies. Representative sampling approaches may be needed to achieve consistent contamination reduction.