Operational guideline: Domestic poultry pathogen reduction programs

On this page

• 1.0 Purpose
• 2.0 Authorities
• 3.0 Reference documents
• 4.0 Definitions
• 5.0 Acronyms
• 6.0 Operational Guideline
  • 6.1 Prepare for inspection
  • 6.2 Conduct the inspection
    • 6.2.1 Pathogen Reduction Monitoring Program (PRMP)
    • 6.2.2 Process Verification Monitoring Program (PVMP)
    • 6.2.3 Determine compliance
    • 6.2.4 Failure of series (PRMP) or process out of control (PVMP)
  • 6.3 Communicate the results
  • 6.4 Conduct follow-up
• 7.0 Report on industry results for pathogen reduction performance standards

1.0 Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspection staff the domestic Pathogen Reduction Monitoring Program for Salmonella and Campylobacter for raw poultry (PRMP) and Process Verification Monitoring Program for generic E. Coli – Biotype I for raw poultry (PVMP) implemented under sections 47 and 89 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.

This document is intended to be used in conjunction with other guidance documents as referenced in Section 3.0.

The guidance outlined below should be used when conducting verification activities for domestic poultry pathogen reduction programs (PRMP and PVMP) in poultry slaughter establishments.

2.0 Authorities

• Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA)
• Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)

The inspection powers, control actions and enforcement actions authorized by the above legislation are identified and explained in the Food regulatory response guidelines.

3.0 Reference documents

• Operational guidance - Standard Inspection Process (SIP)
• Standard regulatory response process
• Operational guideline – Food regulatory response guidelines
• Food preventive control and traceability – Compliance verification system
• Program Direction: Preventive control inspection frequencies for food (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)
• Operational procedure: Food preventive control inspection – Implementation verification
  • Annex 2 – Export food - Implementation verification tasks
• Food animal slaughter PCI operational guidance
  • Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Operational Guidance
• Operational Guidance: Food Animal Slaughter - Preventive Control Inspection - Implementation Verification
  • Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Implementation Verification Tasks
• Industry Guidance - Pathogen Reduction Monitoring Program for Salmonella and Campylobacter for raw poultry
  • Annex - Sampling procedures for Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. in raw poultry
  • Interim performance standard for chicken parts, comminuted chicken and comminuted turkey
• Industry Guidance - Process Verification Monitoring Program for generic E. Coli – Biotype I for raw poultry
  • Annex – Sampling procedures for generic E. coli in raw poultry
• Risk profile of Salmonella and Campylobacter in secondary poultry species (accessible only on the Government of Canada network - RDIMS 10662000)
• PRMP Poultry Template (accessible only on the Government of Canada network RDIMS 19004361)

4.0 Definitions

Definitions are located in the documents listed below or as a defined word where it is intended to supersede the definitions within the glossary documents:

• Safe Food for Canadians Regulations
• Safe Food for Canadians Regulations: Glossary of key terms
• Integrated Agency Inspection Model (iAIM) – Glossary of Terms (Annex F)

5.0 Acronyms

Acronyms are spelled out the first time they are used in this document and are consolidated in the Food business line acronyms list.

6.0 Operational Guideline

Licence holders must identify and analyze the biological hazards that present a risk of contamination of their food, and prevent, eliminate or reduce to an acceptable level the hazards identified by using control measures that are shown by evidence to be effective, including any treatment or process. PRMP and PVMP published by CFIA provide a means to verify that overall control measures are effective in reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter (pathogens) and contamination (generic E. Coli) in raw poultry and poultry products.

If the licence holder does not follow the CFIA guidance and presents a different means of meeting SFCR requirements, the inspection team should consult with CFIA specialists to verify the validity of the approach.

6.1 Prepare for inspection

Refer to section 6.1 of the Operational Guidance: Food Animal Slaughter – Preventive Control Inspection – Implementation Verification for more details on inspection preparation. In addition to the general guidance provided in the previous operational guidance, the following applies.

Use the following tasks to verify that the regulatory requirements for PRMP and PVMP are met:

• Domestic tasks (Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Implementation Verification Tasks)
  • Sampling Protocol
  • Sampling Verification

For licence holders that implemented the United States of America (USA) pathogen reduction programs in 2023 use the following tasks to verify the USA requirements:

• Export tasks (Annex 2 – Export food - Implementation verification tasks)
  • Sampling protocol
    • USA Salmonella and Campylobacter sampling written protocol for raw products
    • USA Generic E. Coli sampling written protocol for carcasses
  • Sampling verification
    • USA Salmonella and Campylobacter sampling implementation for raw products
    • USA Generic E. Coli sampling implementation for carcasses

Perform the type of PCI-IV task corresponding to the program implemented by the licence holder. Both types of tasks will be performed if the licence holder is implementing both domestic and US programs. Refer to Program Direction: Preventive control inspection frequencies for food (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) for the frequencies of these tasks.

6.2 Conduct the inspection

Refer to section 6.2 of the Operational Guidance: Food Animal Slaughter – Preventive Control Inspection – Implementation Verification for more details on conducting the inspection. In addition to the general guidance provided in the previous operational guidance, the following applies.

6.2.1 Pathogen Reduction Monitoring Program (PRMP)

Refer to section 7.3 of Industry Guidance - Pathogen Reduction Monitoring Program for Salmonella and Campylobacter for raw poultry for products out of scope.

PRMP sampling

The type and subtype of the carcass and comminuted poultry that is sampled should remain the same during 52 weeks of PRMP testing; however, chicken parts type and subtypes that are sampled will change during 52 weeks. Refer to section 8.3 of Industry Guidance - Pathogen Reduction Monitoring Program for Salmonella and Campylobacter for raw poultry for more details about the sampling.

During sample collection, the licence holder will:

• collect carcass by taking 1 sample once during any production shift
• collect carcass parts by taking 1 sample once during any production shift
• collect comminuted poultry by taking multiple subsamples throughout various production shifts in a day to make a composite sample

Low volume production scenarios:

• refer to the following sections of the Industry Guidance - Pathogen Reduction Monitoring Program for Salmonella and Campylobacter for raw poultry for more details on:
  • the minimum production volumes to design and implement a PRMP: Table 4: Production volume for the implementing PRMP
  • the assessment of the performance when the product is produced seasonally: section 9.2
  • the minimum number of samples required for trend analysis: column A of Table 6 Assessment criteria for trend analysis and compliance of PRMP
• if the volume production:
  • varies over the week, then the sample should be taken as soon as possible (for example, for chicken parts or comminuted poultry, on the day that the production volume meets the minimal production volume for PRMP)
  • does not meet the criteria for the entire week, then the sample should be taken as soon as possible (for example for the chicken parts and comminuted poultry, an extra sample should be taken in the week when the production volume meets the minimal production volume for PRMP)

6.2.2 PVMP

Whole carcasses of all poultry species are within the scope of the PVMP, which means that all poultry species must be sampled and tested.

Only turkeys, ducks, geese and guineas require one test per 3000 carcasses. Rest of the species can be tested once per 22 000 carcasses. This is different from the "Table 1: Sampling frequency for generic E. Coli" in Industry Guidance - Process Verification Monitoring Program for generic E. Coli – Biotype I for raw poultry, but Policy and Programs Branch (PPB) has allowed the industry to use this standard. The Industry Guidance - Process Verification Monitoring Program for generic E. Coli – Biotype I for raw poultry will be amended later to reflect this.

The licence holder must keep separate PVMP log for each poultry species; in addition they should keep separate logs for:

• young and mature turkey
• young and mature duck
• light and heavy fowl

Note: For chicken logs, broilers and roasters can be combined to assess PVMP.

6.2.3 Determine compliance

This section provides information on the inspection activities CFIA inspector will carry out in relation to the PRMP and PVMP, specifically, with respect to assessing the licence holder's compliance with the SFCR. If the operator does not follow the CFIA domestic poultry pathogen reduction programs as published and presents a different means of meeting SFCR requirements, the inspection team should consult with CFIA specialists to verify the validity of the approach.

If there is a non-compliance with SFCR 89 (for example, missing components of the written Preventative Control Plan (PCP) related to the content described in section 89), SFCR 86 should also be referenced in the same non-compliance record as that is the regulation which actually requires the licence holder to have a PCP that meets the provisions of SFCR 8.

6.2.3.1 Identification of biological hazards by the operator

It is a non-compliance to SFCR 47(1) when:

• Salmonella and Campylobacter are not identified as a biological hazard

6.2.3.2 Preparation, retention and maintenance of a written PCP by the licence holder

It is a non-compliance to SFCR 86(1) when, for example:

• the licence holder does not include all products in the scope of the PVMP or PRMP in the PCP
• the licence holder does not update their PCP for a new product included in the scope of the PVMP or PRMP

6.2.3.3 Implementation of the written PCP by the licence holder

It is a non-compliance to SFCR 88 when:

• the licence holder does not implement their PCP as intended

If there is a non-compliance with SFCR 88, SFCR 86 must also be referenced in the same non-compliance record as that is the regulation which actually requires the licence holder to implement their PCP.

6.2.3.4 Description of the biological hazards identified under 47(1), of the control measures to prevent, eliminate or reduce hazards to an acceptable level and of the evidence that the control measures are effective in the licence holder written PCP

Examples of control measures are feed withdrawal, sanitary dressing procedures, contamination control, antimicrobial intervention, Critical Control Points (CCP), Evisceration standards, chilling process, etc.

It is a non-compliance to SFCR 47 (2) and 89(1)(c)(i) when:

• the licence holder's PCP does not describe Salmonella and Campylobacter as biological hazards
• the licence holder's PCP does not describe control measures to prevent, eliminate, or reduce biological hazards of Salmonella and Campylobacter to an acceptable level
• the licence holder's PCP does not describe control measures to prevent, eliminate, or reduce contamination (generic E. Coli - Biotype 1) to an acceptable level
• the licence holder's PCP does not describe PRMP and PVMP as evidence showing the control measures are effective and the licence holder did not present an acceptable different means of meeting SFCR requirements
  Note: The licence holder may opt to implement an alternate program in place of PRMP or PVMP. The inspection team should consult with CFIA specialists to verify the validity of the approach, the information provided should include the rationale provided by the licence holder.
• the licence holder's PCP does not follow the CFIA domestic poultry pathogen reduction programs, and the licence holder did not present an acceptable different means of meeting SFCR requirements, for example:
  • the licence holder uses other organisms as indicators but does not provide acceptable rationale
  • the licence holder does not provide an acceptable rationale to demonstrate that a product is out of the scope of the PVMP or PRMP:
    • if the product is sent to another federally licenced establishment for Ready-to-Eat (RTE) food production, verify that the licence holder's PCP includes evidence that product is sent to RTE establishment (a letter of guarantee is acceptable as evidence)
    • if the product volume does not meet the PRMP criteria, verify the licence holder's production volume records for that product demonstrate that the production volume is less than the minimum volume required to implement the PRMP for that product
    • if certain species produced by the licence holder are not sampled for the PVMP, verify the rationale provided by the licence holder (why the hazards are not likely to occur in a particular class of poultry slaughtered at the establishment)

Note: When a non-compliance is observed on control measures as feed withdrawal, sanitary dressing, contamination control, antimicrobial intervention, CCP, evisceration standards, etc., add the appropriate implementation verification or sub-element task to the scope of the inspection case for which the trigger will be "Incident response". Refer to section 6.2.1 and Annex 1 of Operational guideline – Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system, Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Operational Guidance and Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Implementation Verification Tasks for more details on the PCI tasks.

6.2.3.5 Procedures to verify that the implementation of the PCP ensures compliance with the regulatory provisions in the licence holder's written PCP

It is a non-compliance to SFCR 89(1)(c)(vi) when:

• the licence holder's PCP does not describe verification activities (on-site observation, interview, written PCP and record review), including activities to verify that PRMP and PVMP are implemented as written and are effective in meeting the prescribed standards (including verification of effectiveness of corrective actions)

Note: Trend analysis and proactive corrective action before series failure (PRMP) or loss of process control (PVMP) as well as the assessment of microbial staging at different production steps is not a regulatory requirement unless the licence holder has included them in their written PCP as procedures to verify regulatory compliance with the SFCR.

6.2.3.6 Documents that substantiate that the licence holder's PCP has been implemented with respect to 89(1)(c)(i) to (vi)

It is a non-compliance to SFCR 89(1)(c)(vii) when the records or documents do not demonstrate that:

• the monitoring or verification activities have been implemented
• the corrective actions (including preventive actions) bring hazards back in control
• the effectiveness of the corrective actions have been evaluated

6.2.4 Failure of PRMP series or PVMP process out of control

When the process is out of control (failure of a PRMP series or results do not meet PVMP criteria):

• add the PCI-IV Sampling Verification task of the Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Implementation Verification Tasks to the scope of the inspection case for which the trigger will be "incident response"
  Note: For inspections which are not part of a work plan (trigger: incident response), it may be acceptable to complete only the part of the verification activities linked to the reason for this inspection.
• when a non-compliance in the written PCP is observed, add the PCI-IV Sampling Protocol task of the Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Implementation Verification Tasks to the scope of the inspection case
• if the positive trend continues (for example, second and third failures in PRMP or if the PVMP standard is consistently exceeded), add the appropriate PCI-Compliance Verification of a System (CVS) (sub-element) task or PCI-IV task to the scope of the inspection case to assess:
  • why previous corrective actions were ineffective and,
  • if the licence holder conducted a systematic review of their PCP that includes reviewing changes to operations such as changes in facilities, equipment, personnel and procedures (for example, feed withdrawal, sanitary dressing, contamination control, antimicrobial intervention) which may affect adequacy of pathogen reduction and controls in case of PRMP or adequacy of process verification and controls in case of PVMP
• refer to section 6.2.1 and Annex 1 of Operational guideline – Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system, Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Operational Guidance and Appendix 1 – Poultry and Rabbit Slaughter PCI Implementation Verification Tasks for more details on the PCI tasks

Important points to consider when assessing compliance:

• PRMP process is deemed out of control when the results do not meet the end cycle performance standards
• PVMP process is deemed out of control when the results do not meet PVMP criteria; this is a non-compliance if:
  • the results are consistently exceeding the PVMP standards and the licence holder does not implement corrective action(s)
  • the licence holder takes the same corrective action each time the process is out of control and the implemented corrective actions do not prevent future PVMP failure
• Positive trends (repetitive processes out of control) indicate a strong likelihood of serious shortcomings in the licence holder's PCP(s) for the class of the product sampled (for example, process control, monitoring, corrective action implementation, verification).
  Note: The process controls and consequently the pathogen reduction process are expected to have some instances when the process is out of control. When positive trends are observed, verify the rationale provided by the licence holder. For example, if it was actually a positive trend or not, and if it was related to delay in verification of effectiveness of corrective actions due to valid reasons.
• When reviewing if the licence holder is effectively able to identify non-compliances, bring hazards back into control and prevent re-occurrence, verify the licence holder has:
  • identified the root cause of the failure
  • implemented effective corrective actions (including preventive actions) to bring hazards back in control
  • evaluated the effectiveness of the corrective action
• Consider to include subject matter experts, such as Regional Veterinary Officer, in your inspection team to perform specific functions or provide additional support

6.3 Communicate the inspection results

Refer to section 6.3 of the Operational Guidance: Food Animal Slaughter – Preventive Control Inspection – Implementation Verification for more details on reporting results.

6.4 Conduct the follow-up inspection

Refer to section 6.4 of the Operational Guidance: Food Animal Slaughter – Preventive Control Inspection – Implementation Verification for more details on conducting the follow-up inspection.

7.0 Report on Industry Results for Pathogen Reduction Performance Standards

The local CFIA is requested to forward all PRMP test results to the CFIA Science Branch (use the email address: PRPS-NRRP@inspection.gc.ca) for the following reporting periods within one month of the end of the reporting period:

• April 1 to June 30
• July 1 to September 30
• October 1 to December 31
• January 1 to March 31

The PRMP data collection spreadsheet PRMP Poultry Template (accessible only on the Government of Canada network RDIMS 19004361) has to be used and can be populate by CFIA or the licence holder.

For inquiries related to this Operational Guidance Document, please follow established communication channels, including submitting an electronic Request for Action Form (e-RAF) (accessible only on the Government of Canada network).