RASFF Logs Nine Notifications in Nine Days Over Salmonella in Poultry Meat From Poland, With Two Alerts for Infantis and Enteritidis

The European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), managed by the European Commission, validated between October 15 and 23, 2026 nine notifications over Salmonella in poultry meat of Polish origin. They were sent by Italy, Latvia and Poland itself, with two each, and by Germany, Belgium and Finland, with one each. Four identify Salmonella Infantis, one Salmonella Enteritidis and four Salmonella spp., in chicken fillets, hindquarters, boneless thigh and marinated wings, in poultry meat with skin and cuts, and in frozen turkey and duck.

Two are alerts. Germany reported Salmonella Infantis, detected in 25 grams in the company's own check, in frozen spicy marinated chicken wings from batch 756396115, and classified it as a serious risk; the operator withheld the product. Italy detected Salmonella Enteritidis in 25 grams of frozen duck meat in an official control, with a potentially serious risk, and the consignment was detained. In official controls, Latvia found Salmonella Infantis in 3 of 5 units of chilled hindquarters and in 5 of 5 of chilled chicken fillet, which it withdrew from the market. Finland detected it in frozen boneless thigh meat, withdrawn from customers in Finland and Sweden, and Poland notified Salmonella spp. in 5 of 5 samples from a batch of more than 11 tonnes of meat with skin and in 2 of 5 from another of 8.2 tonnes of cuts, both shipped to Germany. Five notifications were classified as not serious risk.

Raw poultry meat is one of the main sources of Salmonella in Europe. The bacterium colonizes the intestines of birds and passes to the meat during slaughter and cutting; freezing does not eliminate it and only thorough cooking destroys it, so the household risk is concentrated in undercooking and cross-contamination in the kitchen. European regulations set a specific safety criterion for fresh poultry meat for Salmonella Enteritidis and Typhimurium, the serovars most linked to human cases. Infantis is not included in that criterion, but it is one of the most frequent in EU broilers and many isolates are resistant to several antimicrobials.

Nine notifications from six countries in nine days about the same origin show that this is not an isolated finding and require importers and processors to verify every consignment they receive, especially frozen meat, which can spend months in the supply chain. TAAG's Ampliora 1.1 kit detects Salmonella spp. by real-time PCR and raw chicken is among its validated matrices, so it fits receiving and product control. Identifying the serovar, such as Infantis or Enteritidis, requires typing at a reference laboratory, and presumptive results must be confirmed with the reference method.