Italy and Czech Republic Notify RASFF of Salmonella Enteritidis and Infantis in Chicken Breast, Drumsticks and Thighs From Romania

The European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) published between October 15 and 23, 2026 three notifications over Salmonella in chilled raw chicken meat of Romanian origin, detected in official controls on the market in two Member States. Italy notified Salmonella Enteritidis in chicken breast on October 23, with a risk classified as serious. The Czech Republic notified Salmonella Infantis in chicken thighs on October 15 and in chicken drumsticks on October 23.

The breast notified by Italy was a 300-kilo consignment packed in a protective atmosphere; Salmonella Enteritidis was detected in 25 grams in the sample of October 8, when the criterion requires its absence. Italy ordered the official detention of the product, which is presumably no longer on the market, and the European Commission downgraded the notification that same day to information for attention. In the Czech cases, trays of 804 and 642 grams sampled on August 25 and September 16, Salmonella Infantis was found in 3 of 5 subsamples; the risk was rated as potentially serious and as a potential risk, respectively, and no stock remained. The veterinary authority of the Romanian district of Vâlcea responded to both files with the outcome of its investigation, on October 26 and 29.

Raw poultry meat is a main route of entry for Salmonella into the food chain: the bacterium colonizes the intestines of birds and passes to the meat during slaughter and cutting. Salmonella Enteritidis is the serovar that causes the most human salmonellosis cases in Europe; the European regulation on microbiological criteria (Regulation (EC) 2073/2005), cited in the Italian notification, requires its absence in fresh poultry meat, as it does for Salmonella Typhimurium. Salmonella Infantis is one of the most frequent serovars in European broilers and many of its isolates are resistant to several antimicrobials. Thorough cooking eliminates the bacterium; the risk lies in cross-contamination. The Czech Republic had already issued a warning on October 8 over Salmonella Infantis in another batch of chicken hindquarters of Romanian origin, with a use-by date that expired in August.

For importers, distributors and cutting plants, the series shows that controls at destination continue to find Salmonella in chicken circulating in the single market, often when the product has already been sold. Testing incoming consignments makes it possible to act before the notice arrives through RASFF. TAAG's Ampliora 1.1 kit detects Salmonella spp. by real-time PCR and raw chicken is among its validated matrices, so it matches the microorganism and the matrix of the three notifications. The kit does not distinguish serovars: a positive result is presumptive and must be confirmed, and serotyped, with the reference method.