Walmart and Sam’s Club to Enhance Poultry Safety Measures
December 18 2014 - 12:29PM
Business Wire
Walmart today announced that it will implement enhanced poultry
safety measures for suppliers designed to further protect customers
against foodborne illnesses. The new guidelines are in addition to
Walmart’s food safety program that requires poultry suppliers to
achieve prevention-based certification against one of the Global
Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) internationally recognized
standards.
“At Walmart and Sam’s Club, we are committed to providing our
customers with safe, quality foods,” said vice president for food
safety, Frank Yiannas. “As part of our continuous improvement
process, we determined it was important to require additional
layers of protection for our customers.”
The new program requires Walmart and Sam’s Club U.S. poultry
suppliers to implement holistic controls from farm to fork designed
to significantly reduce potential contamination levels, including
chicken parts. It also requires suppliers to undergo specialized
testing to validate that the measures they have implemented are
effective. All poultry suppliers must be in compliance with the new
requirements by June 2016.
The enhanced protocol has been reviewed with numerous
stakeholders including consumer groups, regulators, academicians,
poultry suppliers and industry associations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has
partnered with Walmart on this initiative to advance food safety
and decrease foodborne illnesses among consumers.
Dr. Chris Braden, director of CDC’s Division of Foodborne,
Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases said, “CDC, along with
Walmart, recognizes that reducing Salmonella and other pathogen
contamination in poultry products is a crucial step towards
decreasing the burden of foodborne illnesses. Walmart and CDC
working together to protect public health and advance food safety
is a great example of a public-private partnership that benefits
everyone.”
Dr. Gary R. Acuff, director of the Texas A&M Center for Food
Safety applauded the company’s work: “Walmart’s implementation of
enhanced safety measures for poultry products provides leadership
for the food industry and continues a progressive approach to
providing the safest possible food. This is a smart,
science-supported move that will greatly benefit consumers.”
For more information or to join the conversation please visit
news.walmart.com or @Walmartnewsroom.
About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world
save money and live better – anytime and anywhere -- in retail
stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, more
than 245 million customers and members visit our 11,202 stores
under 71 banners in 27 countries and ecommerce websites in 11
countries. With fiscal year 2014 sales of over $473 billion,
Walmart employs more than 2 million associates worldwide. Walmart
continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy
and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart
can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com on Facebook
at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available
at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20141218006076/en/
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.Brooke Buchanan,
800-331-0085news.walmart.com/reporter
Walmart (NYSE:WMT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Walmart (NYSE:WMT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024