October 11, 2013

USDA may close three California poultry plants on salmonella outbreak

Following an outbreak of salmonella across the nation that has resulted in nearly 300 people in 17 states becoming sick, the USDA is threatening to shut down three poultry farms in California.

The newspapers reported that the USDA sent a letter to Foster Farms, one of the country's largest privately-owned poultry producers, pointing out that poor sanitary conditions at the facilities were a "serious on-going threat to public health," and asked the poultry company to come up with a plan to clean up its plants.

Two of the poultry plants are in Fresno and one is in Livingston, California, where the company is based.

The USDA issued a health alert on Monday (Oct 7) after it detected strains of salmonella Heidelberg in products from these three facilities. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 42% of people who fell sick across the country were hospitalised, and that 77% of those were from California.

According to the CDC report, the salmonella strains were resisting antibiotics and the outbreak has prompted organisations such as Consumer Reports, which regularly tests meat and poultry, to seek a recall of Foster Farms products.

Urvashi Rangan, toxicologist and executive director of Consumer Report's food safety centre said, "We are calling on Foster Farms and the retail outlets that sell Foster Farms to recall the chicken processed at these plants. Foster Farms has a responsibility to public health to take this step."

Reacting to the news, Foster Farms president Ron Foster said in a message on the company's website apologising for "any foodborne illness associated with Foster Farms chicken and for any concern this may have caused you." He added that Foster Farms has brought in national food safety experts to assess the processes at its facilities to ensure there was no future cause for concern.