The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that its new pathogen performance standards for Salmonella andCampylobacter in ground poultry and chicken parts will prevent about 50,000 illnesses each year.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) proposed changes to the Salmonellaand Campylobacter Verification Testing Program create brand-new standards forSalmonella and Campylobacter in chicken breasts, legs and wings, and forCampylobacter in ground chicken and turkey.

The agency is also updating the existing standards for Salmonella in ground chicken and turkey to make them harder to meet.

“Today, we are taking specific aim at making the poultry items that Americans most often purchase safer to eat,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This is a meaningful, targeted step that could prevent tens of thousands of illnesses each year.”

The changes were made to address the poultry products that are much more common than whole birds in consumer kitchens. The agency implemented performance standards for whole chickens in 1996 but has since learned that Salmonella levels increase as chicken is further processed into parts.

Microbiological performance standards set a limit on the number of product samples that test positive for a pathogen. FSIS uses them to assess the food safety performance of facilities, and making standards tougher means less-contaminated poultry will enter the food supply.