Salmonellosis was the second most commonly reported foodborne gastrointestinal infection in humans in the European Union.

In 2023, there were 77,486 confirmed cases of human salmonellosis, corresponding to a European Union notification rate of 18.0 cases per 100,000 population. This was an increase of 16.9% compared with the rate in 2022 (15.4 cases per 100,000 population).

The overall trend for Salmonella infections did not show any significant increase or decrease in the 2019–2023 period.

The top five European Union-acquired Salmonella serovars involved in human infections were distributed as follows: S. Enteritidis (70.8%), S. Typhimurium (8.9%), monophasic S. Typhimurium (1,4,[5],12:i:-) (5.1%), S. Infantis (2.0%) and S. Coeln (0.77%).

In the context of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on food safety criteria, ‘fresh poultry meat’ was the most contaminated matrix at the distribution stage with 9.0% Salmonella-positive official control samples, followed by ‘meat products made from poultry meat intended to be eaten cooked’ (8.1%), ‘mechanically separated meat’ (7.1%), and ‘minced meat and meat preparations made from poultry meat intended to be eaten cooked’ (6.6%).

In the context of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005, Member States reported the highest proportions of Salmonella-positive samples during compliance checks for process hygiene criteria at slaughterhouses among those collected by the competent authorities for turkeys (18.9%), and for broilers (17.8%). Lower prevalence was observed in pigs (4.1%), goats (3.5%), cattle (1.4%) and sheep (1.4%). For samples collected by food business operators, the proportions of Salmonella-positive samples were significantly lower: 2.8% for turkeys, 2.6% for broilers, 1.0% for pigs, 1.3% for goats, 0.49% for cattle, and 0.76% for sheep.

In 2023, a very low (0.25%) Salmonella prevalence was found in ‘ready-to-eat’ food sampling units (N=86,115) reported by 24 Member States, with the highest levels of contamination found in ‘sprouts (sprouted seeds)’ (1.4%; N=644). Of 478,743 ‘non-ready-to-eat’ sampling units reported by 28 Member States, 2.2% were positive, with the highest levels of contamination found in ‘meat and meat products from turkeys’ (4.3%; N=16,533) and ‘meat and meat products from broilers’ (4.1%; N=106,699).

Fifteen Member States and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) met all Salmonella reduction targets for poultry populations in their control programmes, indicating a worsening compared to previous years. Three Member States failed to meet targets for breeding Gallus gallus, seven for laying hens, and two for broiler flocks. However, all Member States successfully met the targets for fattening turkeys and breeding turkeys.

For broilers and fattening turkeys, the European Union-level prevalence of target Salmonella serovar-positive flocks reported by food business operators was significantly lower than that reported by competent authorities.

Over the long-term period (2007–2023), a significant decrease in the European Union-level prevalence of target Salmonella serovar-positive flocks was observed in breeding Gallus gallus, laying hens, and broilers. However, in the short term (2019–2023), no notable trends—either an increase or decrease—were detected in any of the poultry populations. Regarding Salmonella spp., a significant reduction in European Union-level flock prevalence was identified only in laying hens over the long-term period.

Salmonella Enteritidis was the most commonly reported serovar in the ‘laying hens-eggs’ source and the third most common in both the ‘broilers-broiler meat’ and ‘bovine animals-bovine meat’ sources. Salmonella Infantis was by far the dominant serovar in the ‘broilers-broiler meat’ source and ranked among the top four serovars across all considered food-animal sources. In the ‘pigs-pig meat’ source, the most common serovars were the monophasic variant of S. Typhimurium and S. Derby. In the ‘bovine animals-bovine meat’ source, S. Dublin and S. Typhimurium were the most commonly reported serovars.