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Salmonella contamination on tree nuts has led to outbreaks and recalls of tree nuts and tree nut products in the United States.

In support of a food safety system based on prevention, the FDA is conducting quantitative microbial risk assessments to estimate the risk of human salmonellosis arising from the consumption of almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts in the United States.

The objectives of the risk assessments are to

1. estimate the impact of microbial reduction treatment levels on the risk of human salmonellosis arising from the consumption of tree nuts in the United States.
2. estimate the impact of microbial reduction treatment levels on the risk of human salmonellosis as a result of an atypical situation in the production system.

The risk assessments for Salmonella on tree nuts provide information for FDA, the nut industry, consumers and other stakeholders to use in development of risk management strategies to reduce illness from tree nuts contaminated by Salmonella.

Risk Assessments

• Quantitative Assessment of the Risk of Human Salmonellosis Arising from the Consumption of Almonds in the United States: The Impact of Preventive Treatment Level
• A Quantitative Assessment of the Risk of Human Salmonellosis Arising from the Consumption of Pecans in the United State

Selected FDA Research Studies

• Salmonella Survival Kinetics on Pecans, Hazelnuts and Pine Nuts at Various Water Activities and Temperatures
• Prevalence of Salmonella in Cashews, Hazelnuts, Macadamia Nuts, Pecans, Pine Nuts, and Walnuts in the United States
• Modeling the Survival Kinetics of Salmonella in Tree Nuts for use in Risk Assessment 

Federal Register Notices and Commenting

View docket folder FDA-2013-N-0747 for comments received on the Request for Comments, Scientific Data and Information for aid in conducting an Assessment of the Risk of Human Salmonellosis Associated With the Consumption of Tree Nuts.