Foster Farms Salmonella outbreak review comes to an end

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has concluded its review of a Salmonella outbreak associated with raw chicken from Foster Farms and has determined that the outbreak has ended.

The CDC has affirmed Foster Farms’ progress in reducing Salmonella to less than five percent from an industry average of 25% for raw poultry parts.

“Foster Farms has implemented and continues to utilise multiple interventions to reduce Salmonella throughout its entire poultry production process,” the company said in a statement. “This strategy includes interventions at the breeder level, at hatcheries, at grow-out farms, and at the processing plant where the final product is packaged. Supported by data from continuous testing by Foster Farms, these interventions have reduced Salmonella prevalence to less than 5% in the Foster Farms establishments linked to this outbreak. FSIS has determined that process control measures undertaken by the firm to consistently minimise Salmonella contamination of raw chicken have been successful.”

“Foster Farms remains committed to continuing its progress and leading the industry in food safety. In October 2013, Foster Farms began implementing a $75 million multi-hurdle food safety program to reduce naturally occurring Salmonella at each stage of the production process. The company now leads the industry in reducing incidence levels of Salmonella in raw poultry parts companywide to less than 5%. Foster Farms is actively sharing its learnings with other producers in the food industry to improve Salmonella controls industrywide for the benefit of US consumers.”