Wash. and Ore. salmonella tied to Foster Farms chicken
SEATTLE (AP) - A number of salmonella illnesses traced to Foster Farms chicken in Washington and Oregon last year prompted health officials in both states to remind consumers Thursday that chicken in the kitchen can sicken.
The outbreak is not an unusual threat, said Washington state Health Department spokesman Tim Church.
"The 2012 salmonellosis outbreak is a wakeup call," said Dr. Paul Cieslak of the Oregon Public Health Division.
"While these outbreaks are unfortunate, they're also preventable if people take the proper steps when storing, handling and preparing raw poultry products," he said in a news release.
The Oregon Health Authority said there were 43 cases last year in Oregon, and the Washington Health Department said there were at least 56, all linked to a specific strain of salmonella Heidelberg bacteria found on Foster Farms chicken from farms in Washington and California. There were no deaths.
Salmonella causes an illness with symptoms like stomach flu - fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea - that last four to seven days. It can be deadly in the young or old or other vulnerable people, said Church.
Foster Farms said safety and quality are its priorities, and there is no recall related to the salmonella announcement.
"Since 2005, testing results for salmonella from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food Safety and Inspection Service in the Pacific Northwest have consistently been well below the limits set for raw poultry. This indicates that our Pacific Northwest facilities maintained consistent process control for salmonella," the company said in a statement.
Foster Farms and health officials are all urging consumers to separate raw poultry from other foods in the shopping cart with plastic bags. Don't let drippings from chicken or packaging contaminate cutting boards or other surfaces in the kitchen. And, cook chicken to 165 degrees to kill the bacteria.
There were a total of 56 salmonella Heidelberg infections in 2012 in Oregon - 13 in an addition to the strain linked to Foster Farms. That compares with an average of 27 for the five previous years, the Oregon Health Authority said.
Salmonella accounts for 600 to 800 cases of foodborne illness each year in Washington, the state Health Department said.
There have been no salmonella cases linked to Foster Farms in Washington this year, but laboratories are still watching for it, Church said.
State health officials said they are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track salmonella and with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to work with Foster Farms.
The outbreak is not an unusual threat, said Washington state Health Department spokesman Tim Church.
"The 2012 salmonellosis outbreak is a wakeup call," said Dr. Paul Cieslak of the Oregon Public Health Division.
"While these outbreaks are unfortunate, they're also preventable if people take the proper steps when storing, handling and preparing raw poultry products," he said in a news release.
The Oregon Health Authority said there were 43 cases last year in Oregon, and the Washington Health Department said there were at least 56, all linked to a specific strain of salmonella Heidelberg bacteria found on Foster Farms chicken from farms in Washington and California. There were no deaths.
Salmonella causes an illness with symptoms like stomach flu - fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea - that last four to seven days. It can be deadly in the young or old or other vulnerable people, said Church.
Foster Farms said safety and quality are its priorities, and there is no recall related to the salmonella announcement.
"Since 2005, testing results for salmonella from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food Safety and Inspection Service in the Pacific Northwest have consistently been well below the limits set for raw poultry. This indicates that our Pacific Northwest facilities maintained consistent process control for salmonella," the company said in a statement.
Foster Farms and health officials are all urging consumers to separate raw poultry from other foods in the shopping cart with plastic bags. Don't let drippings from chicken or packaging contaminate cutting boards or other surfaces in the kitchen. And, cook chicken to 165 degrees to kill the bacteria.
There were a total of 56 salmonella Heidelberg infections in 2012 in Oregon - 13 in an addition to the strain linked to Foster Farms. That compares with an average of 27 for the five previous years, the Oregon Health Authority said.
Salmonella accounts for 600 to 800 cases of foodborne illness each year in Washington, the state Health Department said.
There have been no salmonella cases linked to Foster Farms in Washington this year, but laboratories are still watching for it, Church said.
State health officials said they are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track salmonella and with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to work with Foster Farms.
not surprising. Foster Farms is known for having horrible living conditions for chickens.Â
Tainted food that isn't "healthy", "organic" or "free-range"? Wow.
Cook to the proper temperature and refrain from licking raw chicken, and I promise you won't get sick. Â No indication on the report if it is from the source or from improper handling. Â If you can't cook, sit on the can for 4-6 days.
I avoid Chicken, I eat beefalo or Brawferds or...deer,elk , bear, cougar, salmon , trout.. oh I am sorry, have I offended any one...I am sorry ...takes a bite of "lamb chops"
@lee986321Â Yeah...Trolling with a list of country meats don't make you a tough wild mountain man. Â You do realize we see through the flaccid attempt right? Â Well maybe not.
Being a chicken I would gladly make you sick for eating me On 82nd street you get a easy 10 bucks
picture yourself living in a cage with just enough room for your body. now picture you standing there and the 7 people above you all in cages instead of apartments have to go potty where they stand. that is how chickens live. and you wonder why we get sick.
@32jim2Â it is called a cubicle
@32jim2Â Well, I thought Foster Farms didn't do that. Â I know that Tyson stuff is like that, which is why I won't buy it. Â Recently I was in Scotland. Â It's incredible how good-tasting the food is there: pork, chicken, eggs, veggies; Â All of it is just delicious. Â (Provided it hasn't been cooked by an Englishman, of course.)
@john @32jim2 "(Provided it hasn't been cooked by an Englishman, of course.)"
Both funny and true!
@32jim2Â Do I get high speed internet in this room with just enough space for my body? I'm not going if I can't surf the web.
Foster farms has done nothing wrong, but lets link salmonella with their name
Salmon are protesting - it should be called chickenella
Didn't the Rajneesh use salmonella to poison the dalles
@Bert Anand Sheela his evil henchwoman did that with some of her cronies while the Bagwan was spaced on on his usual self-administered cocktail of prescription drugs and nitrous oxide gas searching for more bliss after the Rolls Royces just weren't quite exciting enough anymore.
Use necessary precautions eating last years chicken
I am 65 years old and, when I was a child, my Mom had no trouble with Salmonella. Nobody scrubbed their counters or washed their hands with antibacterial lotion after touching raw chicken. So, is it what we are feeding chicken now that is causing the problem? What is different now? What are we putting into chicken that is causing salmonella?
@Joy A. People died at younger ages, too.  Food wasn't factory farmed like it is now.  They had truck farms but that usually didn't include meats.  Antibiotics allowed "us" the opportunity to house more animals in a much smaller area (many not ever seeing the light of day or touching the ground) so that we can feed our ever-growing world population.  Virtually all conventionally grown chicken are fed some type of antibiotic feed daily and/or it is in their water supply.  Same is true for virtually all meat animals.
Look at it. Â How many meat products do we call by an animal name? Â Germans call meat "flesh" (fleish is used interchangeably). Â We don't eat ground beef it's usually called hamburger but there is no ham in it. Â Ham isn't an animal but a pig is. Â Pork, eh, I could give you that one. Â I would venture to guess that probably only about 33% of the US population even knows how to break down an animal (even a chicken).
Ask a kid where meat comes from and they're going to tell you the store (or a restaurant).
Medical science is also acknowledging a whole host of autoimmune disorders which could increase our sensitivity to salmonella and other bacteria as well as the bacteria and viruses evolving to combat our antibiotic and antibacterial uses.
Houses weren't built as tightly. Â Wind could dry out a damp interior. Â We spent more time outside and, arguably, were more physically strong. Â Many had their own vegetable gardens. Â We didn't eat nearly as much meat or meat byproducts.
The list goes on and on. Â The world is changing. Â And I'll even venture to guess that, in an effort to provide "freshness", in less than 20 years, many of our raw food products (fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, dairy, etc.) will be "grown" on ships in the ocean (international waters, of course) so that they'll be closer to the distribution ports. Â I'm pretty sure China's already looking into this if they aren't already doing it (and I mean to be imported into the US, by the way).
Welcome to the new world.
@Joy A. Well, it's not just the really filthy animal husbandry that has been going on for decades....you should see the unholy truly cruel and stressful concentration-camp conditions the chickens are raised in, and you would understand how this has happened, plus the antibiotic abuse mixed into animal feeds all these years for weight gain, etc, has made for superbugs. Want clean chicken? Shop from farmers who practice good and humane animal husbandry practices and you are off to a good start.
@whirledworld @Joy A. I've seen some documentaries. It's pretty damn appalling. It's not just chicken. Soon as I get some property... I'm going to try and grow and raise as much as I can myself.. or do small co-ops / locally raised animals. I'm not a health nut by any means. I drink to much, smoke to much, don't exerice... etc.. but I'm starting to come around.. and food is one of the things. To much b.s. is going on that you can't just ignore anymore.
@Liberty4_WA @whirledworld @Joy A. Time to check your car for salmonella... ;)
@whirledworld @Joy A. Hell half the week going to work at 4am to Portland I see the chicken tractor-trailers hauling up I-5 North. Gazillion of them slammed into cages stacked rows and rows high. Wind blowing on them... everything in all weather. :-/
Sad. I always bought Foster Farms because I thought it was better. I won't ever buy that "southern grown" stuff. I don't think organic is necessarily any safer. I have no idea how this stuff gets into the meat.
@john Any farmer can tell you (and non-farmer who is knowledgable) the Salmonella enteritidis bacterium exist in the digestive tract of the chicken so, in addition to be in the chicken's gut, it also is found in fecal and mucousal excretions.
As such, it can get on the exterior of eggs (and can sometimes physically enter the egg but probably not through through a completely intact shell) and on the chicken meat if sanitation efforts aren't strictly adhered to (and that is virtually impossible because you cannot see the bacterium with the naked eye).
This doesn't mean Foster Farms keeps a clean or an unsanitary product line. Â It is a side effect of the naturally occurring bacteria that is part of the world we live in. Â We, too, have bateria in our guts that help break down and process the foods we eat. Â Research shows that, if the bacterium don't exist, we cannot properly digest our food (E. coli is on our bodies right now -- as are probably strep variants).
The best way to assure you are not contaminated by the more dangerous forms of bacteria are to keep your working environment clean, wash frequently with soap and water, don't wash chicken in the sink any longer (the moisture spreads the bacteria while not necessarily flushing it from the bird thus spreading it to nearby surfaces), keep meats and poultry separate from fruits and vegetables until it is time to combine them in a recipe, and assume that, if you eat chicken and/or eggs, it is contaminated. Period.
So, no, organic is not safer, per se. Â Some of the controversy comes from how to treat and cure the salmonella and other bacteria.
Wash all surfaces after cutting, preping or cooking chicken and you should be fine. Â Oh, and no more blowing out raw eggs to make hollow easter eggs, either. Â Unless you want a belly full of the "bad" stuff.
@CTWU @john thanks for a great explanation! I suppose this means no more pumpkin chiffon pie. :-(.
@john @CTWU You're welcome and you're wrong, lol.  You'll just have to make friends with the cartons of pasteurized egg products (different products fit different needs) or reconstitute the powdered egg products.  Not an absolute 100% guarantee but much closer!
The salmonella is also why they tell you to not eat raw cookie or cake batter any more, either (yep, no more licking those beaters!). Â But, if made with the pasteurized egg product, go for it!
See, it's all rather simple. Â Not! Â Extension Offices have updated information for safe food handling and alternative ways of making some of the "no-no" desired products work for you and keep you healthy, too.
@john Oh, and, this is also a naturally occurring bacteria found on other birds (for food and for pets) as well as reptiles (turtles and snakes have been known to be carriers).
@john It is a naturally occurring bacteria in poultry. Proper handling keeps it contained and proper cooking kills the bacteria. I eat a lot of chicken, including Foster Farms, and I have never ever had a problem. I am much more careful with beef because I like it rare to medium-rare.
"remind consumers Thursday that chicken in the kitchen can sicken."
Really Doug Esser? You wrote this crap? Clever for a third grader. For someone who purportedly makes a living at it, not so much.
Stopped buying FF chickens a long time ago, don't need the antibotics.
Cook it thoroughly and wash your hands. Problem solved.
I tend to think these problems just kind of work themselves out naturally.
@JGalt ya it all works out in the end