Salmonella Heidelberg Outbreak

**canid** · 10-09-2013, 03:30 PM

Hey; I may have found out why Safeway had the chicken I bought on sale so cheaply:

It's one of the batches the current, large salmonella outbreak is coming from.

This may be coincidence, but I'm certainly skeptical. This does not constitute a direct accusation.

Raw chicken products with the USDA inspection numbers "P6137," "P6137A," and "P7632." are associated with this outbreak. Raw chicken products with these codes on their packaging from multiple retailers should not be eaten. http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/heidel...-13/index.html

If you or your loved ones eat chicken from the pacific states, you should reshare this.

**Rick** · 10-09-2013, 03:34 PM

And it's refreshing to know that the government sent the CDC inspectors home. For those on the west coast, good luck.

**canid** · 10-09-2013, 03:40 PM

Thankfully, despite the partial shutdown, the CDC placed a disclaimer on their site to warn that information may not be current and that some functionality may not be available, but the incident/outbreak page is still current all the same.

I have not found the statement to confirm it, but I have heard that Foster Farms, the local poultry producer from whom the outbreak appears to have originated is refusing the recall the inspection batches in question.

They allegedly urge people to cook the chicken in question fully, despite the fact that this will only prevent active salmonellosis infections, but not the still somewhat dangerous acute salmonella enteritis which may be caused by the toxins already produced by the bacterium in the food in question.

**Rick** · 10-09-2013, 03:53 PM

I did read earlier today that they had not specifically isolated the cause partly because of the government shutdown. It appears to only affect the west coast right now. Here's an article on it.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...break/2941783/

**canid** · 10-09-2013, 04:12 PM

The USDA inspection batches implicated so far are said to originate from Foster Farms.

**canid** · 10-15-2013, 08:58 PM

Some of you may find this to be inappropriate, but since it effects the health of anybody to whom it concerns, as well as the relationship of trust we have with those licensed to sell food to the public; here is an important rant:

After the rudest customer complaint interaction I've ever had, including the manager by implication calling me a liar twice, I am now directly accusing Safeway of wrongdoing. They salmonella chicken is still on clearance, as though not yet being legally obligated to recall it justifies selling food to the public which is verifiably known to be contaminated with multi-drug resistant salmonella -unquestionably not fit for human consumption in any part of the world sufficiently developed to have the choice- and reducing the price to ensure more people purchase it.

Certainly cooking it will render it somewhat safer, but guess what? I like my kidneys. I like my liver. I like my heart. Any clinically significant amount of shigillatoxins can cause all three of them lasting harm, and do you know what? I most certainly hated spending prolonged periods of time on the toilet several times per day for consecutive days.

In the end, they were unwilling to try to satsify my perfectly reasonable requirement that should they sell contaminated chicken at a reduced price and then accept returns, I insist they offer me a direct exchange for comparable chicken which is not at that same price.

Ultimately, I told them they could just keep it. I was told "but you'll lose out on your $15". Well; I actually paid $24 for it, but I can live with that, and I left. A parting gift from a valued customer to them. Let Chris eat it. I am boycotting Safeway and to the limited extent that the origin of their products are disclosed, Foster Farms as well.