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 letter
to 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.
