July 8, 2014
Congress members urge USDA to close down Foster Farms
Two representatives are calling on the USDA to shut down all Foster Farms poultry plants until a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 600 people is resolved, NBC news reports.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y. began the move after the California-based firm voluntarily recalled all chicken parts produced in March. Government health officials had confirmed that a person became ill in May after eating the contaminated meat.
Both Foster Farmsand USDA officials refused to say how much chicken was affected by the recall, calling it an "undetermined amount."
DeLauro and Slaughter have introduced legislation that would require food recalls during such outbreaks. The bill, called the Pathogens Reduction and Testing Reform Act, would require USDA to recall any meat, poultry or egg product contaminated by pathogens that can cause serious illness or death, or that are resistant to two or more antibiotics critical to treating human illness.
The Foster Farms outbreak includes seven strains of drug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg, which make infections difficult to treat. Nearly 40% of victims have been hospitalised and 13% have developed serious bloodstream infections.