The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) considers it useful in the context of this rulemaking to attempt to quantify the microbiological risk associated with consuming farm-raised Siluriformes in the United States. However, limited information on the extent of microbial contamination and chemical residues on Siluriformes limit our ability to make strong statements about the baseline risk. Furthermore, the lack of experience with implementing the inspection program associated with this rulemaking in the context of aquaculture makes estimating the impact of such a program on any baseline risk difficult. As such, the assessment FSIS presents here simply provides insight into the potential risk reductions that might accompany the implementation of the type of inspection program used for poultry (i.e., broiler) in the U.S. This report also identifies potential chemical and microbial hazards.