The USDA has finally released an official recall notice about the Costco in San Francisco removing Foster Farms rotisserie chicken products from store shelves. This recall is happening because Salmonella is an illegal adulterant in ready-to-eat foods. It’s not illegal to sell raw chicken contaminated with Salmonella, unless someone gets sick. But USDA is not recalling the raw Foster Farms chicken that has sickened 317 people in 20 states.
The recalled Foster Farms rotisserie chicken products were sold at the Costco El Camino Real store in San Francisco, California. The products are 8,730 “Kirkland Signature Foster Farms” rotisserie chickens that are cooked and ready to eat. Also recalled are 313 total units of “Kirkland Farm” rotisserie chicken soup, rotisserie chicken leg quarters, and rotisserie chicken salad. The products were sold directly to consumers between September 11 and September 23, 2013.
A group of Salmonella Heidelberg illnesses are associated with the consumption of rotisserie chicken products prepared in and purchased at the Costco El Camino Real store. The PFGE pattern (0258) associated with this outbreak is only rarely reported in this country. FSIS, working with the CDC, the California Department of Public Health, and the County of San Mateo Public Health Department, determined through epidemiologic and traceback investigations that there is a link between the Costco El Camino Real rotisserie chicken products and this illness outbreak.
Then the notice goes on to tell people to cook their chicken properly, which makes no sense because this chicken was already cooked. If you have eaten these chicken products and have experienced the symptoms of a Salmonella infection, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea that may be bloody, and fever, please see your doctor as soon as possible. These seven strains of Salmonella in this particular outbreak are especially virulent, resulting in a 42% hospitalization rate, and a 13% rate of Salmonella septicemia, a life-threatening blood infection.
