When six people in Minnesota got Salmonella poisoning from Antioch Farms frozen raw chicken Kiev last October, health officials knew something must have gone very wrong with chicken. Previous outbreaks linked to pre-browned, but raw, stuffed poultry products had triggered label changes in 2008 eliminating microwave cooking instructions. After the change, no further outbreaks were reported. Then came Antioch Farms.
During interviews, some of those sickened reported following cooking instructions to the letter. Health officials began to suspect that the chicken was contaminated with so much Salmonella that it would be very difficult to prepare it without getting sick.
The processing plant that produced the the Antioch Farms chicken Kiev had been linked to a Salmonella outbreak prior to the label rule change. Tests performed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture on Antioch Farms chicken Kiev purchased from grocery stores were positive for the same strain of Salmonella found in all six people who became ill.
Those finding prompted a recall of 14 tons of the product by Aspen Foods Division of Koch Meats in Chicago on October 24. The recalled products,with “sell by” dates of October 1, 2015 and October 7, 2015 and the USDA establishment number “P-1358” inside the USDA mark of inspection, were sold in the following states: CO, ID, IL, MA, ME, MI, MN, MT, NH, NV, ND, RI, UT, VT, WI and WY.
