Meat safety combines prevention at home with inspection and surveillance across the food system. In FY 2023, FSIS inspection personnel conducted 7.7 million food safety and food defense procedures at 7,100 USDA-regulated establishments. During the same fiscal year, FSIS inspected more than 163 million head of livestock, 9.8 billion poultry carcasses, and 2.8 billion pounds of liquid, frozen, and dried egg products (FSIS Food Safety Stats).
Contents
- How much meat and poultry FSIS inspected
- The temperatures that matter
- What the 2023 recall numbers show
- How 2023 compares with 2022
- The scale of foodborne illness
- Where meat and poultry fit in source estimates
- What outbreak attribution studies found
How much meat and poultry FSIS inspected
The FY 2023 inspection figures show the scale of the federal system that oversees regulated meat, poultry, and egg products. FSIS inspection personnel completed 7.7 million food safety and food defense procedures across 7,100 USDA-regulated establishments. These are procedures and establishments counted during fiscal year 2023, not a count of individual consumers or meals (FSIS Food Safety Stats).
FSIS also inspected more than 163 million head of livestock in FY 2023. The livestock figure sits alongside an even larger poultry count: 9.8 billion poultry carcasses were inspected during the same fiscal year. FSIS additionally inspected 2.8 billion pounds of liquid, frozen, and dried egg products (FSIS Food Safety Stats).
These measures describe different parts of the regulated supply chain. “Head of livestock” is a count of animals, “poultry carcasses” is a count of carcasses, and egg products are reported by weight. They should therefore be read as separate indicators of inspection scale rather than added together.
The temperatures that matter
FSIS identifies 40°F to 140°F as the food-safety Danger Zone, where bacteria can grow rapidly. FSIS says food should be kept at 140°F or warmer to stay safe when held hot, while refrigerated food should be kept at 40°F or colder. For frozen storage, FSIS identifies 0°F as the best temperature for storing frozen foods (FSIS Food Safety Stats).
Cooking targets vary by food type. FSIS recommends 145°F for raw beef, pork, lamb, and veal steaks, chops, and roasts. The recommendation for raw ground beef, pork, lamb, and veal is 160°F. Raw poultry should reach 165°F, while egg dishes should reach 160°F. FSIS recommends 145°F for fish (FSIS Food Safety Stats).
| Food or handling stage | FSIS temperature figure |
|---|---|
| Refrigeration | 40°F or colder |
| Hot holding | 140°F or warmer |
| Frozen storage | 0°F |
| Whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb, or veal | 145°F |
| Ground beef, pork, lamb, or veal | 160°F |
| Poultry | 165°F |
| Egg dishes | 160°F |
| Fish | 145°F |
Thermometer use is another important part of the home-cooking picture. FSIS says 66% of people do not use food thermometers correctly (FSIS Food Safety Stats). That figure helps explain why temperature guidance is more useful when treated as a measurement practice, not just a number to remember.
What the 2023 recall numbers show
In calendar year 2023, FSIS recorded 65 recalls of meat and poultry products covering 4,005,384 pounds of product. Of those recalls, 58 were Class I, 7 were Class II, and 0 were Class III (FSIS 2023 Recall Summary).
The 2023 product counts were 16 recalls due to beef products, 12 due to chicken products, 18 due to swine products, and 15 involving mixed-species products. The categories describe the products involved in the recalls and are not a ranking of the safety of every product sold in those groups (FSIS 2023 Recall Summary).
The reported causes included 16 recalls caused by import violations, 15 caused by undeclared allergens, 10 caused by extraneous material, and 10 for product produced without inspection. Five recalls were caused by Listeria monocytogenes, five by STEC contamination, and three by processing deviations (FSIS 2023 Recall Summary).
The recall summary also recorded 24 public health alerts in 2023. A public health alert is reported separately from the 65 recalls in the supplied FSIS summary, so the two figures should not be combined into a single recall total (FSIS 2023 Recall Summary).
How 2023 compares with 2022
FSIS recorded 45 meat and poultry recalls in 2022, covering 1,769,556 pounds of product. The 2022 total included 40 Class I recalls, 5 Class II recalls, and 0 Class III recalls (FSIS 2022 Recall Summary).
The two annual summaries provide a compact comparison:
| Measure | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and poultry recalls | 45 | 65 |
| Product covered | 1,769,556 lb | 4,005,384 lb |
| Class I recalls | 40 | 58 |
| Class II recalls | 5 | 7 |
| Class III recalls | 0 | 0 |
| Public health alerts | 23 | 24 |
The 2022 causes included 11 recalls for undeclared allergens, 10 for product produced without inspection, 9 caused by extraneous material, 6 caused by Listeria monocytogenes, and 3 caused by STEC contamination. Import violations caused 3 recalls, and processing deviations caused 1 (FSIS 2022 Recall Summary).
The 2022 and 2023 summaries count recalls and pounds covered in their respective calendar years. They do not, by themselves, measure the probability that an individual serving or package caused illness. Recall totals can also reflect different products, causes, and affected quantities from year to year.
The scale of foodborne illness
CDC estimates that each year in the United States, 31 major known foodborne agents cause 9.4 million illnesses, 55,961 hospitalizations, and 1,351 deaths. CDC also estimates an additional 38.4 million gastroenteritis illnesses, 71,878 hospitalizations, and 1,686 deaths from unspecified foodborne agents (CDC Burden of Foodborne Illness Q&A).
Combined, those CDC estimates are 47.8 million foodborne illnesses, 127,839 hospitalizations, and 3,037 deaths annually in the United States. The combined figures include both the known-agent estimates and the unspecified-agent estimates; they are not a meat-only total (CDC Burden of Foodborne Illness Q&A).
CDC says norovirus caused the most foodborne illnesses. Nontyphoidal Salmonella, norovirus, Campylobacter, and Toxoplasma caused the most foodborne hospitalizations. Nontyphoidal Salmonella, Toxoplasma, Listeria, and norovirus caused the most foodborne deaths (CDC Burden of Foodborne Illness Q&A).
These rankings cover foodborne illness overall. They should not be interpreted as saying that every leading pathogen is primarily associated with meat or poultry, because the source estimates vary by pathogen and commodity.
Where meat and poultry fit in source estimates
In CDC’s source-estimate analysis, meat and poultry were the most common sources of fatal infections. Meat and poultry contributed 22% of domestically acquired foodborne illnesses and 29% of domestically acquired foodborne deaths. Poultry alone accounted for 19% of deaths in that analysis (CDC Foodborne Illness Source Estimates).
The same analysis provides context for other food groups. Produce contributed 46% of illnesses and 23% of deaths. Dairy and eggs contributed 20% of illnesses and 15% of deaths. Fish and shellfish contributed 6.1% of illnesses and 6.5% of deaths (CDC Foodborne Illness Source Estimates).
CDC also reported that 51% of outbreaks in that analysis were linked to simple foods and 49% were linked to complex foods. Those percentages describe the older source-attribution analysis and should not be presented as current annual shares or as a direct split of meat-related outbreaks (CDC Foodborne Illness Source Estimates).
The commodity-pathogen relationship can be specific. CDC reported that 46% of illnesses linked to leafy vegetables were caused by norovirus, illustrating why overall food categories do not tell the whole story without the pathogen pairing (CDC Foodborne Illness Source Estimates).
What outbreak attribution studies found
The 2022 IFSAC report used outbreak surveillance data from 1998 through 2022 and attributed illnesses across 17 food categories for Salmonella, E. coli O157, and Listeria monocytogenes. It identified 3,996 outbreaks under review, including 211 involving multiple pathogens or serotypes. After exclusions, the analysis covered 3,890 outbreaks, with a final dataset of 1,355 outbreaks assignable to a single food category (IFSAC 2022 Report).
Of those assignable outbreaks, 1,010 were Salmonella, 281 were E. coli O157, and 64 were Listeria. Outbreaks from 2018 through 2022 provided 63% of model-estimated Salmonella illnesses, 68% of model-estimated E. coli O157 illnesses, and 34% of model-estimated Listeria illnesses (IFSAC 2022 Report).
The report found that more than 75% of Salmonella illnesses were attributed to seven food categories; those seven categories accounted for 79.7% of all Salmonella illnesses in the report. More than 85% of E. coli O157 illnesses were attributed to vegetable row crops and beef, while no E. coli O157 illnesses were attributed to eggs or oils-sugars (IFSAC 2022 Report).
For Listeria, more than 75% of illnesses were attributed to dairy, vegetable row crops, and fruits. No Listeria illnesses were attributed to other meat/poultry, game, other seafood, grains-beans, oils-sugars, or seeded vegetables in that report (IFSAC 2022 Report).
The earlier 2021 CDC/IFSAC report used 952 reported outbreaks and 32,802 illnesses from 1998–2012. It attributed 77% of foodborne Salmonella illnesses to seven food categories, 82% of E. coli O157 illnesses to beef and vegetable row crops, 81% of Listeria monocytogenes illnesses to fruits and dairy, and 74% of Campylobacter illnesses to dairy and chicken. Only four other food categories beyond the top seven Salmonella categories had attribution percentages above 1% (CDC/IFSAC 2021 EID Report).