US secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins has this week launched a comprehensive plan to bolster United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) efforts to combat foodborne illness.
The department has said that the plan better positions its Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which is responsible for ensuring meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and properly labelled.
USDA added that FSIS will continue to work in close collaboration with partners like the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure the safety of the entire food supply chain.
Secretary Rollins said: “President Trump is committed to ensuring American consumers have the safest, most abundant, and affordable food supply in the world.
“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.”
USDA plan to bolster food safety
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.
In 2025, FSIS has tested over 23,000 samples for listeria, a more than 200% increase in samples from 2024.
To support these enhanced testing efforts, FSIS is opening its new, modernised Midwestern Laboratory in Normandy, Missouri.
The facility is expected to play a critical role in analysing verification samples for foodborne pathogens and chemical residues and will also support efforts to streamline the FSIS laboratory system.
FSIS is also mobilising its resources to perform more robust, in-person Food Safety Assessments (FSAs), prioritising RTE meat and poultry establishments.
In 2025, the agency completed 440 FSAs, a 52% increase from the same time period in 2024. These reviews identify and address potential food safety concerns.
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. To date, approximately 53,000 weekly questionnaires with over 840,000 new data points have been collected on these risk factors, according to USDA.
FSIS also continues to enhance its instructions and related training for inspectors to help them recognise and elevate problems with an establishment’s food safety system.
Since January, the agency also updated its listeria-specific training and administered it to over 5,200 frontline inspection personnel.
3. Reducing salmonella illnesses
Secretary Rollins has charged FSIS to find a more effective and achievable approach to address salmonella in poultry products.
The Trump administration said it is pursuing a new strategy on salmonella to protect public health while preventing regulatory overreach.
It will begin by convening listening sessions with key stakeholders to collaborate on best approaches moving forward.
4. Strengthening state partnerships
USDA has said that states are crucial partners in ensuring a safe and strong food supply and provide a vital service in bringing nutritious, affordable American food products to dinner tables across the country.
In May, Secretary Rollins announced an additional $14.5 million in funding to reimburse states for their meat and poultry inspection programmes and called on congress to more sustainably fund these programmes moving forward.
She said 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.
The secretary 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.
Also this year, FSIS signed updated, comprehensive cooperative agreements with all 29 states that operate state meat and poultry programmes.
USDA has said that these agreements clarify expectations for oversight and enforcement of food safety laws, provide comprehensive training for inspectors, and ensure regular coordination with FSIS.
FSIS inspectors to take action
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.
The agency has taken 103 enforcement actions in 2025, an increase of 36% over the same period in 2024.
FSIS has also instructed its field supervisors to conduct in-person, follow-up visits when systemic issues are identified during a FSA.
