The Foster Farms multi drug – resistant salmonella outbreak is a textbook example of the need for a wholesale revision of the laws and policies pertaining to control of this dangerous pathogen.
Foster Farms is one of the largest poultry producers in the United States. Hundreds of people who consumed the company’s poultry products were sickened in two recent outbreaks. The first one lasted from June 2012 to April 2013. A second salmonella outbreak started in March 2013 and may still be ongoing. More recently, one of the company’s plants was shut down for cockroach infestation.
Two well – regarded food safety organizations have recently offered suggestions for improving salmonella regulation in the U.S. The most recent was issued by the Pew Charitable Trusts in December 2013 and is entitled “Weaknesses in FSIS’s Salmonella Regulation”. A few months prior to that, the Safe Food Coalition made a number of suggestions to the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture in a letter dated October 17, 2013. The recommendations from both organizations are comprehensive and fair and seek to remedy the gaping holes in the current regulatory scheme.
About Fred Pritzker
Fred Pritzker, one of America’s leading food safety attorneys, represents victims of these outbreaks including a young child who required brain surgery because of complications linked to salmonellosis. Pritzker said, “Young children, people with compromised immune systems and the elderly are most at risk for serious salmonella complications. It is nothing short of scandalous that our most vulnerable citizens are so at risk from salmonella outbreaks. There is no reason to delay the changes recommended by these two esteemed organizations.”
