September is Food Safety Education Month to keep you and your family healthy. This year the focus is on how to prevent food poisoning when cooking at home. First, following the four step recipe for food safety is crucial: Clean (wash your hands often, clean counters with hot soapy water, don't wash chicken or meat); Separate (keep raw meat, chicken, turkey, seafood, and eggs away from produce); Cook (cook foods to safe final internal temperatures and use a food thermometer); and Chill (refrigerate leftovers promptly). Then, you should focus on preventing Salmonella infections. Salmonella causes more foodborne illnesses in the United States than any other bacteria. Chicken is a major source of these illnesses, although outbreaks linked to ground beef have also … [Read more...]
Consumer Advocates Call for Modernization of Poultry Food Safety
Consumer advocates, food poisoning survivors, scientists, and four major poultry producers are calling for the modernization of poultry food safety to reduce illnesses, according to Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). These groups want to meet with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss a "modernized, science-based regulatory approach to ensure the food safety of poultry products." The four poultry products are Butterball, Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, and Wayne Farms. The four consumer groups are CSPI, Consumer Federation of American, Consumer Reports, and Stop Foodborne Illness. Campylobacter and Salmonella infections make up 705 of the foodborne illnesses tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those pathogens are commonly found on … [Read more...]
Chicken and Salmonella is Focus of Consumer Reports Recommendations
With the new Salmonella outbreak linked to frozen raw breaded stuffed chicken breasts in mind, Consumer Reports is issuing their recommendations on the problem of chicken and Salmonella in this country. The article focuses on the tragic story of Noah C., a child sickened in the 2013 Foster Farms's chicken Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak that also sickened more than 600 Americans. The child suffered a severe infection that caused a brain abscess. He had to undergo brain surgery and faced, and still faces, a daunting recovery. The law firm of Pritzker Hageman, which underwrites Food Poisoning Bulletin, represented Noah and his family and obtained a $6.5 million verdict against Foster Farms, which attributed 30% of the fault to the huge poultry processor. Consumer Reports writes that … [Read more...]
More Circle K Chicken Made with Tyson Products Recalled For Listeria
The USDA is reporting that more Circle K chicken made with Tyson products recalled for Listeria have been discovered. These products have a different establishment number, complicating the recall. This information was posted in an update to the original recall notice from July 3, 2021. The different establishment numbers were used because of further processing. In addition, some products may have been served from deli counters in retail stores. You can see pictures of these new product labels at the USDA web site. The government is encouraging consumers to check the FSIS website frequently because this information about the recall is being updated often. The USDA will continue to update the original press release and the labels if they become aware of more products that used the … [Read more...]
Was Recalled Tyson Chicken Imported From China? The Answer is No
After seeing some rumors about the Tyson chicken recalled for possible Listeria contamination being processed in China, Food Poisoning Bulletin conducted some research. While it is true that as of 2013, China can export processed chicken to the United States (the rule was finalized in 2017), was recalled Tyson chicken imported from China? The answer is no. A USDA-FSIS spokesperson told us, "The product subject to recall was not processed in China. The product was processed at Tyson Foods establishment in Dexter, Missouri with domestic source materials." Indeed, the Tyson website says the same thing, adding that these rumors are a hoax. And even though it's now legal, very little processed chicken is exported from China to the United States. The Tyson chicken in question was … [Read more...]
More Tyson Chicken Recalled in Association with Deadly Listeria Outbreak
The USDA says that more Tyson chicken recalled in association with a deadly Listeria monocytogenes outbreak was distributed to retail stores and institutions. About another 500,000 pounds of these products are recalled, for a total of 8,955,296 pounds. While the recalled products included precooked chicken that was shipped to schools, it was from a commercial sale and was not part of food provided by the USDA for the National School Lunch Program. There is evidence linking a deadly Listeria monocytogenes outbreak that has sickened three people in Delaware and Texas to precooked chicken produced at Tyson Foods. The chicken is frozen, fully cooked, and ready to eat. The chicken was produced between December 26, 2020 and April 13, 2021. You can see the long list of recalled products … [Read more...]
Which Stores Sold Tyson Chicken Recalled For Possible Listeria?
With the huge recall of Tyson frozen precooked chicken products for possible Listeria contamination, which stores sold Tyson chicken? Most of the largest grocery store chains in the country did carry some of these products. All of these products have the establishment number EST. P-7089. This is not a complete list, as there may be other chains and smaller individual stores that sold these items. Check by the establishment number and the product name and dates, as well as UPC and PLU numbers. It's important to note that no illnesses have been reported in connection with these specific recalled products. There is an outbreak that the USDA has connected to Tyson products since the outbreak strain was found at a Tyson facility, but the three patients who have been sickened so far, one … [Read more...]
Delaware Listeria Patient Linked to Multi-State Chicken Outbreak
A Delaware Listeria patient who is linked to the multi-state precooked chicken outbreak was allegedly sickened by Tyson foods ready-to-eat chicken products, according to an update by the Delaware Division of Public Health. That notice states that there is "one case of Listeria associated with a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to recalled Tyson Foods ready-to-eat chicken products." The state will not release any more information about this specific case at this time to protect privacy. The other two patients in this outbreak live in Texas. One patient from Texas has sadly died. Tyson has initiated a huge recall of their frozen, fully cooked chicken products that were produced between December 26, 2020 and April 13, 2021. More than 8.4 million pounds of … [Read more...]
Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Backyard Poultry Sickens 163 in 43 States
A Salmonella outbreak linked to backyard poultry has sickened at least 163 people in 43 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thirty-four people have been hospitalized because they are so sick. All people sickened by live poultry in this country in the last 10 years add up to almost 7,000 illnesses. The case count by state is: Arizona (2), Arkansas (2), California (9), Colorado (2), Connecticut (3), Florida (1), Georgia (9), Idaho (1), Illinois (3), Indiana (2), Iowa (11), Kansas (1), Kentucky (5), Louisiana (1), Maine (3), Maryland (3), Massachusetts (3), Michigan (4), Minnesota (3), Mississippi (4), Missouri (4), Montana (4), Nebraska (2), Nevada (1), New Hampshire (3), New … [Read more...]
Campylobacter Are Exchanging Genetic Material to Become More Virulent
New research conducted at North Carolina State University reveals that two of the most common strains of Campylobacter are exchanging genetic material. That means they are producing more infectious and antibiotic-resistant strains. And that is bad news for consumers, since those strains are common in the poultry industry. In 2014, Consumer Reports conducted research on chicken breasts that they purchased in ordinary grocery stores. They found that potentially harmful bacteria, including Campylobacter and Salmonella, was present in almost all of the chicken, including organic brands. In fact, Campylobacter was found on 43% of the samples. Lead author on the study, Maj. Dawn Hull, Army veterinarian and current Ph.D. student at NC State, said in a statement, "There are two strains … [Read more...]
