A Frontline report that used the Foster Farms Salmonella outbreak to show how the USDA's lack of enforcement puts consumers at risk for severe illness, has prompted Congresswomen Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) to reintroduce legislation that would require the USDA to recall any meat, poultry, or egg product contaminated by pathogens associated with serious illness or death or that are resistant to two or more critically important antibiotics for human medicine. The congresswomen first introduced the Pathogen Reduction and Testing Reform Act in 2013 when Foster Farms chicken was linked to a 29-state Salmonella outbreak that sickened 634 people with an especially virulent strain of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg. Among those who became ill, was … [Read more...]
After Frontline Report, Reps. DeLauro and Slaughter Call, Again, For Better USDA Enforcement
After Frontline Report, Sen. Gillibrand Calls for USDA Mandatory Recall Authority
A Frontline report that used the Foster Farms Salmonella outbreak to show how the USDA's lack of enforcement puts consumers at risk for severe illness, has prompted Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) to introduce the Meat and Poultry Recall Notification Act which would provide the USDA mandatory recall authority over contaminated meat and poultry. In 2013, Foster Farms was linked to a 29-state Salmonella outbreak that sickened 634 people with an especially virulent strain of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg. Among those who became ill , was 18-month-old Noah Craten whose Salmonella infection created abscesses in his brain. To save his life, surgeons had to cut open his skull and remove them. Noah’s story was featured in the Frontline report which spotlighted the USDA’s lack of … [Read more...]
