—are in Category 1. Plants where between 6.75 and 13.5 percent of samples are contaminated are in Category 2. Plants at or above 13.5 percent contamination are in Category 3. If that sounds like a lot of legally-allowed Salmonella, know this: These standards are actually stricter than they used to be—the maximum acceptable

used to be 49.9 percent

.

The FSIS samples poultry plants up to five times a month, or 60 times a year, to detect the presence of Salmonella, and Campylobacter bacteria. Depending on the results found during that year-long sampling window, each plant gets placed into a three-category system. In the case of ground turkey, plants where fewer than 6.75 percent of samples are contaminated—below half of the federally appointed “performance standards”

The latest batch of data doesn’t identify the presence of specific Salmonella strains, and therefore, doesn’t give any clues as to the source of the ongoing outbreak. (We’ve covered how information about a particular strain can help in source identification efforts here). What it does show, however, is that Salmonella is particularly prevalent in ground turkey. The agency released samples from hundreds of chicken and turkey plants. When it came to testing for Salmonella in ground (“NRTE comminuted”) turkey, however, 16 of 41 plants exceeded the federally appointed performance standard. They included the Jennie-O plant in Barron, Wisconsin that issued a recall—along with three other of the company’s plants, plus plants under the familiar names of Butterball, Cargill, and Perdue. By comparison, when the agency tested for Salmonella in whole turkeys, none of the 40 plants exceeded the standard—though one Jennie-O plant, placed in Category 2, may have met it.

In an emailed statement, Jennie-O told The New Food Economy that it is one of 19 different companies whose plants have been associated with the multi-drug-resistant Salmonella strain. The company said the pathogen is a “complicated issue for the poultry industry as a whole,” and that it has a task force that “works each and every day to better understand” prevention.

Notice the language I’m using—”standard,” not “limit.” That’s a critical distinction because turkey plants are allowed to produce turkey that has been contaminated with some amount of Salmonella, and even Campylobacter, and don’t have to recall the products. As I previously mentioned, unlike other pathogens, such as E. coli O157:H7, salmonella is not considered an adulterant—though some people want that to change.