Tastes like salmonella

Sweden has virtually eliminated salmonella in store-bought chicken, even though poultry there is industrially produced, just like in the United States. And even in this country, a 2010 Consumers Union study found no salmonella in the organic store-brand chickens it tested.

In other words, consumers shouldn’t have to accept salmonella-tainted chicken as just one of those unavoidable things. Yet that wasn’t the attitude of Foster Farms and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in response to the recent salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 300 people and sent close to half to hospitals with antibiotic-resistant infections.

Foster Farms refused to recall the suspect chicken shipped from its problem plants, saying that salmonella-tainted poultry is safe to eat if thoroughly cooked. The USDArefused to close the plants on the grounds that, unlike certain strains of E. coli, salmonella is not an adulterant, a poisonous or harmful substance.

Sweden’s inspection process includes testing at multiple key production points, starting at the hatchery. Any infected eggs or animals must be destroyed; then, inspection and cleanup procedures prevent contamination of equipment or other animals. Nothing is shipped from a facility where salmonella has been found until all animals are inspected and declared salmonella-free. The entire process is paid for by the poultry industry.

At minimum, we could begin to improve food safety by declaring salmonella an adulterant so that the USDAand agricultural operations are compelled to recall infected products.

—Los Angeles Times