Posted January 15, 2014
Tyson Foods recently recalled 34,000 pounds of chicken that may be contaminated with a Salmonella Heidelberg strain, according to an announcement from the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) available here.
The product being recalled is “40-lb. cases, containing four, 10-lb. chubs of “TYSON MECHANICALLY SEPARATED CHICKEN.” The Products bear the establishment number “P-13556” inside the USDA mark of inspection with a case code 2843SDL1412-18. The products were shipped for institutional use only and are not available for consumer purchase in retail stores.
The recall was issued after FSIS “became aware of people at a Tennessee correctional facility being infected with a particular strain of the bacteria” on Dec. 12 2013, according to an article by CBS News available here. Seven people were sickened between Nov. 29 and Dec. 5, two of them requiring hospitalization.
The voluntary recall by Tyson Foods shows a curious contrast with Foster Farms in how and why companies decide to recall their products, according to an article by food safety lawyer, Bill Marler available here. Tyson recalled its products after seven people were sickened, while Foster Farms never issued a recall after 550 people were sickened in two outbreaks.
Recently, Foster Farms “voluntarily and temporarily” closed its Livingston, CA chicken-processing plant after it was shut down by the USDA last week, then reopened on Saturday, according to an article by LA Weekly available here.
On January 8, USDA sent a letterto Foster Farms, suspending operations at the Foster Farms facility, withholding the “marks of inspection” and suspending the “assignment of inspectors.” The suspension notice is a result of “egregious insanitary conditions” “whereby products produced” at the facility may be “adulterated in violation of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA), 21 U.S.C. 435 and 436, and the corresponding regulations, 9 C.F.R. 416.
FSIS found evidence of “an infestation of live cockroaches in and around production areas,” which created “insanitary conditions,” and demonstrated that the firm “failed to maintain an effective pest control program.”
For more information on food safety, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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