Federal officials are moving to set new limits on salmonella in raw poultry products in the U.S. The Agriculture Department's proposal is aimed at reducing the number of people who get sick.

The Agriculture Department on Monday announced plans to limit salmonella in poultry products in the U.S., a proposal that officials say will keep contaminated meat off store shelves and lead to fewer illnesses.

Under the proposed new rule, poultry companies would have to keep salmonella levels under a certain threshold and test for the presence of six particularly sickening forms of the bacteria, three found in turkey and three in chicken. If the bacteria exceeds the proposed standard and any of those strains are found, the poultry couldn’t be sold and would be subject to recall.

The poultry industry has made progress in reducing the amount of salmonella in its products over the past three decades, said Dr. Emilio Esteban, USDA undersecretary for food safety.

“However, there’s not been a similar decline in people in the number of illnesses,” he said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates salmonella causes 1.35 million infections annually, most of them through food, and about 420 deaths. The Agriculture Department estimates 125,000 infections from chicken and 43,000 from turkey each year.