FSIS designates a poultry operation of raw chicken parts not ready to eat comminuted poultry as Category 2 if the establishments meet the Salmonella or Campylobacter maximum allowable percent positive for all completed 52-week moving windows but have results greater than 50 percent of the maximum allowable percent positive during any completed 52-week moving window over the last three months.

• A. Category 2
• B. Category 3
• C. Highly variable process control
• D. Category 1

Answer: (A)

The question tests how FSIS uses moving-window performance data to categorize a poultry operation’s Salmonella and Campylobacter control. FSIS sets a maximum allowable percent positive (MAP) for these pathogens and uses 52-week moving windows to assess long-term performance. To stay in the best category, an establishment must meet MAP for all completed 52-week windows. In addition, there’s a recent-period check: if any completed 52-week window within the last three months shows a percent positive exceeding 50 percent of MAP, this signals a concerning but not catastrophic deviation, triggering a Category 2 designation.

This scenario fits Category 2 because the operation meets MAP across all 52-week moving windows, showing good long-term performance, but in the most recent three months there was a window where the percent positive was more than half of MAP. That recent spike indicates variability that needs corrective action, but it isn’t severe enough to move the operation into Category 3 or to indicate highly variable process control. The other options don’t apply: it’s not Category 3 or a general highly variable process, since long-term performance is within MAP, and it’s not Category 1 because the recent spike exceeds 50% of MAP.