WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2013 – Despite the partial government
shutdown, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today was able to
publish a “public health alert” after an estimated 278 illnesses were linked to
consumption of raw chicken products from a California processor. The agency did
not issue a recall of the products, sold in
In a late afternoon statement, FSIS said the illness caused
by strains of Salmonella Heidelberg is associated with chicken produced by
Foster Farms at three facilities in
“At this point in the investigation, FSIS is unable to link the illnesses to a specific product and a specific production period,” the agency said. “Raw products from the facilities in question bear one of the establishment numbers inside a USDA mark of inspection or elsewhere on the package: P6137, P6137A or P7632.”
The outbreak is continuing, FSIS said. “The investigations indicate that consumption of Foster Farms brand chicken and other brand chicken produced at Foster Farms plants are the likely source of this outbreak.” It said the association was made through epidemiologic, laboratory and traceback investigations conducted by local, state, and federal officials.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is partnering with state health departments to monitor the outbreak while FSIS continues its investigation. FSIS is prepared to take additional actions or expand the investigation if new evidence is discovered.
Foster Farms, based in
#30
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