September 14, 2011

Cargill further recalls turkey products

Approximately 185,000 pounds of ground turkey products have been recalled by Cargill Meat Solutions following suspicions of contamination with a strain of Salmonella Heidelberg, reports USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The strain of Salmonella Heidelberg in question is identical to that of an outbreak of Salmonellosis that resulted in an August 3 recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey products. 

Although a sample tested positive for the outbreak related strain of Salmonella, including the identical XbaI and BlnI PFGE patterns matching the August 3 outbreak strain, at this time, neither FSIS nor the plant is aware of any illnesses associated with product from the above dates.

The outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg is resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics; this antibiotic resistance may be associated with an increased risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals.

An FSIS incident investigation team collected samples at the establishment following the previous recall. Sunday's recall occurred after a product sample collected on August 24 tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg. The firm is recalling product from August 30 based on pending positive match samples. The products subject to recall are derived from bone-in parts.

These products were distributed at the retail level nationwide.