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 … [Read more...]
Foster Farms Fresno, Salmonella on 1/4 of Chicken
Almost 27 percent of chicken samples from the Foster Farms plant in Fresno recently tested positive for Salmonella, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Although that’s more than three and half times the federal standard, it’s not high enough to prompt the USDA to ask the company to issue a voluntary recall. And until someone, besides consumer advocates, “asks” for a recall, there likely won’t be one. USDA won’t shutter a plant or ask for a recall solely on the basis of Salmonella rates that exceed the standard (which is set for whole chickens, not parts which the Fresno plants produces) and neither will the state of California. And if no one’s asking, Foster Farms isn’t offering. In the statement posted on the company’s website this week, Foster Farms CEO Ron Foster … [Read more...]
Extra Danger in Foster Farms Chicken Salmonella Outbreak
The type of Salmonella making people sick in the Foster Farms chicken outbreak is putting victims in the hospital at an alarming rate, has proven to be resistant to antibiotics and is causing blood infections at an abnormally high rate, according to state and federal infectious disease experts. Foodborne pathogens that are resistant to drug treatment aren't new, officials say, but the Foster Farms outbreak is a clear example of how food safety is becoming more important. "With so many people being treated at hospitals for illnesses related to food poisoning by Foster Farms, this outbreak is showing more and more people what a burden it can be to stack contaminated food into our grocery aisles,'' said Fred Pritzker, a food safety lawyer representing victims of the outbreak. Pritzker said … [Read more...]
Costco Recalls 40,000 Pounds of Foster Farms Chicken for Salmonella
According to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Costco store in South San Francisco, California is recalling about 40,000 pounds of Foster Farms rotisserie chicken products because they may be linked to the ongoing multistate Salmonella outbreak. There is no information about this recall on the Costco web site. The Costco store located at 1600 El Camino Real is recalling 8,730 Kirkland Signature Foster Farms rotisserie chickens and 313 units of Kirkland Farm rotisserie chicken soup, rotisserie chicken leg quarters and rotisserie chicken salad. Those products were sold from September 11 to September 23, 2013 and were processed at the three Foster Farms plants that were targeted by USDA in their investigation. Apparently, some people who are sick in the current outbreak … [Read more...]
Foster Farms’ “Remarkable Recovery”
Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, has issued a statement about the "remarkable recovery" of Foster Farms. Raw chicken from that company has caused a Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak, the second this year, that has sickened at least 317 people in 20 states and Puerto Rico. Earlier this week, the USDA's FSIS threatened to shut down three of Foster Farms' facilities for violations of their HACCP plans and problems with contamination. But just three days later, the USDA announced that Foster Farms will be allowed to continue processing chicken. Ms. Hauter states, "in just three days, USDA'S FSIS went from threatening to shut down Foster Farms due to serious food safety lapses to declaring last night that the company had made a remarkable recovery. The agency is … [Read more...]
Foster Farms Salmonella Litigation Rests on Vast Evidence
Food poisoning litigation experts representing victims of the Foster Farms chicken Salmonella outbreak have a mountain of evidence contained in inspection and review documents from the United States Department of Agriculture. Firms like Pritzker Hageman, a national food safety law firm that has collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of past Salmonella outbreaks in the U.S., have been compiling the data for the purpose of filing legal complaints for clients. Here's a breakdown of pertinent findings already obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Three Foster Farms manufacturing plants on the West Coast have been associated with the outbreak, but the plant at 2960 Cherry Street in Fresno, California, has been … [Read more...]
Now 317 Sickened by Multidrug-Resistant Foster Farms Salmonella Chicken
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now says that 31 people in 20 states and Puerto Rico have been infected with seven outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg. But no recall. That is an increase of 39 from the last update on October 87, 2013. Forty-two percent of ill persons have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Seventy-three percent of patients are from California. Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback investigations by local, state, and federal officials indicate that consumption of Foster Farms chicken is the likely source of this outbreak. The case count by state is as follows: Alaska (2), Arkansas (1), Arizona (13), California (232), Colorado (4), Connecticut (1), Florida (4), Idaho (2), Kentucky (1), Michigan (2), Missouri (5), North … [Read more...]
Rep. Slaughter on the Foster Farms Salmonella Outbreak
Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the only microbiologist in Congress, issued a statement about the Foster Farms chicken Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 278 people in 17 states with a "staggering" hospitalization rate of 42%.. She said, "This is our country's worst nightmare - a massive outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella - and it's made even worse by a reckless Republican shutdown that locked most of the Centers for Disease Control out of their offices. "The frontline antibiotics we desperately need to treat this outbreak have been rendered ineffective by overuse on the farm, which is why once and for all we must ban the use of antibiotics in food animals unless the animals are sick. Congress must pass my legislation to end the needless overuse of antibiotics on the … [Read more...]
Kroger Removes Foster Farms Chicken From Stores
Kroger stores are removing Foster Farms chicken from their stores after an announcement of a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 278 people in 17 states. While Foster Farms has said it has "fixed the situation", Kroger isn't taking chances. The stores that are removing Foster Farms chicken include Fry's, King Soopers, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, QFC, and Smith's. Kroger, Jay C, and Dillons stores do not carry Foster Farms chicken. The recalled products are identified by these numbers inside the USDA mark of inspection: P6137, P6137A, and P7632. Kroger will notify customers who have purchased those products through their store loyalty card contacts. If you purchased any Foster Farms chicken, from any store, with those numbers in the USDA mark of inspection, discard it … [Read more...]
Buyer Beware: Foster Farms Stays Open After Salmonella Sickens Hundreds
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) has decided that three Foster Farms slaughterhouses linked to a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people can stay open. Foster Farms has decided recalling its contaminated chicken is not necessary. Now, consumers need to decide if they're going to buy it. Consumer groups and food safety advocates are warning consumers not to eat chicken from those Foster Farms plants. On Monday, October 7, FSIS issued a public health alert for Foster Farms chicken saying raw chicken products produced at three Foster Farms facilities in California were the source of a Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak that had sickened 278 people in 18 states. Consumers should not buy or eat Foster Farms chicken marked with … [Read more...]
