Wash. and Ore. salmonella tied to Foster Farms chicken
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SEATTLE (AP) - A number of salmonella illnesses traced to Foster Farms chicken in Washington and Oregon last year prompted health officials in both states to remind consumers Thursday that chicken in the kitchen can sicken.
The outbreak is not an unusual threat, said Washington state Health Department spokesman Tim Church.
"The 2012 salmonellosis outbreak is a wakeup call," said Dr. Paul Cieslak of the Oregon Public Health Division.
"While these outbreaks are unfortunate, they're also preventable if people take the proper steps when storing, handling and preparing raw poultry products," he said in a news release.
The Oregon Health Authority said there were 43 cases last year in Oregon, and the Washington Health Department said there were at least 56, all linked to a specific strain of salmonella Heidelberg bacteria found on Foster Farms chicken from farms in Washington and California. There were no deaths.
Salmonella causes an illness with symptoms like stomach flu - fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea - that last four to seven days. It can be deadly in the young or old or other vulnerable people, said Church.
Foster Farms said safety and quality are its priorities, and there is no recall related to the salmonella announcement.
"Since 2005, testing results for salmonella from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food Safety and Inspection Service in the Pacific Northwest have consistently been well below the limits set for raw poultry. This indicates that our Pacific Northwest facilities maintained consistent process control for salmonella," the company said in a statement.
Foster Farms and health officials are all urging consumers to separate raw poultry from other foods in the shopping cart with plastic bags. Don't let drippings from chicken or packaging contaminate cutting boards or other surfaces in the kitchen. And, cook chicken to 165 degrees to kill the bacteria.
There were a total of 56 salmonella Heidelberg infections in 2012 in Oregon - 13 in an addition to the strain linked to Foster Farms. That compares with an average of 27 for the five previous years, the Oregon Health Authority said.
Salmonella accounts for 600 to 800 cases of foodborne illness each year in Washington, the state Health Department said.
There have been no salmonella cases linked to Foster Farms in Washington this year, but laboratories are still watching for it, Church said.
State health officials said they are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track salmonella and with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to work with Foster Farms.
The outbreak is not an unusual threat, said Washington state Health Department spokesman Tim Church.
"The 2012 salmonellosis outbreak is a wakeup call," said Dr. Paul Cieslak of the Oregon Public Health Division.
"While these outbreaks are unfortunate, they're also preventable if people take the proper steps when storing, handling and preparing raw poultry products," he said in a news release.
The Oregon Health Authority said there were 43 cases last year in Oregon, and the Washington Health Department said there were at least 56, all linked to a specific strain of salmonella Heidelberg bacteria found on Foster Farms chicken from farms in Washington and California. There were no deaths.
Salmonella causes an illness with symptoms like stomach flu - fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea - that last four to seven days. It can be deadly in the young or old or other vulnerable people, said Church.
Foster Farms said safety and quality are its priorities, and there is no recall related to the salmonella announcement.
"Since 2005, testing results for salmonella from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food Safety and Inspection Service in the Pacific Northwest have consistently been well below the limits set for raw poultry. This indicates that our Pacific Northwest facilities maintained consistent process control for salmonella," the company said in a statement.
Foster Farms and health officials are all urging consumers to separate raw poultry from other foods in the shopping cart with plastic bags. Don't let drippings from chicken or packaging contaminate cutting boards or other surfaces in the kitchen. And, cook chicken to 165 degrees to kill the bacteria.
There were a total of 56 salmonella Heidelberg infections in 2012 in Oregon - 13 in an addition to the strain linked to Foster Farms. That compares with an average of 27 for the five previous years, the Oregon Health Authority said.
Salmonella accounts for 600 to 800 cases of foodborne illness each year in Washington, the state Health Department said.
There have been no salmonella cases linked to Foster Farms in Washington this year, but laboratories are still watching for it, Church said.
State health officials said they are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track salmonella and with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to work with Foster Farms.
FOSTER FARMS, oh tell me it isnât so.In fact chicken (and eggs) are right up there at the top for Salmonella and E-Coli risk list.Get it as fresh as possible, make sure it is fully cooked, get a electronic thermometer (they are actually quite inexpensive) and use it.
better than smelly beef curtains.
Organic free-range only chicken; better for you and the animals arent mishandled or treated poorly.
@northwestsurfer If you could trust that its actually free range chicken. Its like putting an organic label on vegetables, doesn't really mean its organic.
What! Did the two scruffy pizza-fed clowns finally sneak in or something!!!
@JLS1950Â That's what I was thinking too.
The problem is obvious from the picture, they didn't cook it... D'oh!!
I got sick once when I ate at Sam & Ella's House of Chicken...
Chicken in the kitchen can sicken
Surprise! It's not finger-lickin'
Wash your hands and your knives
With hot water and lye
Or your stomach, it will hurt like the dickens. Â
Thank you...I'll be here all night folks...
Isn't just Foster Farms, all chicken processors have problems. With chicken and pork always cook very well. Use to drive for the other big chicken processor in the state, they were even worse than Foster was. Try visiting the plants once.lol Processors get too big and the quality goes down, just the way it is. But even as bad as the chicken processors are you should see what some of the big beef processors do. Most everything happens under the direct watchful eye of USDA inspectors but they are quite frequently paid to look the other way.
@Blindman Rules have been relaxed for pork over the years. 160F for poultry, 145F for pork. Pork's issue is worms, not so much bacteria.Â
@lakeview @Blindman also MRSA is in pork meat.
@lakeview @Blindman  I charcoal my pork.lol And make sure the chicken is well cooked. With both Foster and Draper a lot of what you are paying for is water. Water is injected into the finished product.
My first job during high school was as a dishwasher in a kitchen, you still had to get your food handlers permit. Most of it was common sense, but there was still a lot that I bet few people don't know or remember. I always thought it was weird that they didn't teach that stuff in our health class... So sad to hear when the young and elderly get severely sick from something so easily preventable.
Maybe people should be buying those scroungy looking chickens that try and pass themselves off as Foster Farms!
@Tooby Roosday Beat me to it! :)
Don't eat the brown chicken............. or was that.. huh?
Curious as to why if this all happened last year, and there have been no cases this year, KOMO felt the need to throw Foster Farms under the bus? Because they can?
@Surveyor1 I bet there are no statistics yet this year.
 Read the second to the last paragraph.
@Surveyor1 Oops my bad!
I used a wood cutting board to cut up my chicken but I always rinsed it off in hot water then sprayed in down with 409 and let it soak in followed by another hot rinse. Now I'm too lazy for that and it's a plastic cutting board that fits in the dishwasher and goes through every time any meat touches it.
@cm257n7  Using chemical cleaners like 409 on cutting boards is not a great idea. A textured sponge with simple dish soap and hot water is fine for cutting boards that get raw chicken on them.Â
@lakeview - sponges can hold deadly bacteria in the pores of the sponge. Just an FYI.
@Elaine2I've heard that "cooking" a sponge (thoroughly wet, no soap) in the microwave for 3 min kills the germs. Â Anyone know if this is true?
@lakeview @cm257n7 Really? How come? I've done it forever? Have I slowly been poisoning myself because that would explain a lot....
@britlady I don't eat that often either. I like the idea of color coding. That's a great idea.
I have a red plastic cutting board for red meat , a blue one for chicken and a green one for fruits and vegetables. They all fit in the dishwasher. I rarely use them though as I do not eat meat and chicken very often, just when I have people over.
@cm257n7 It's possible. But why take the chance? Soap and hot water is just fine as long as the board drys itself out before the next use. If you want some extra protection, use vinegar or bleach solution from a spray bottle.Â
"chicken in the kitchen can sicken."
LOL...Â
@wsmith_84Â Try saying that one three times fast!
wsmith-84...that made me dizzy
Way back whenâ¦. had a neighbor that had âfree rangeâ chickens. Later on I had a pet parakeet, and when comparing the two birds came to the conclusion that chickens have earned the title âdirty birdâ⦠Never had a problem keeping that in mind when cookingâ¦. Sorry so many others did.
That is why you buy ORGANIC!!!!!!!!!
@MN And I suppose you only smoke American Spirit cigarettes?... oh you're such a health nut!
@MNHA HA HA! You really think organic makes a difference when it comes to salmonella? There's a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you too.
@MN Organic chicken has plenty of bacterial growth as well.Â
@MN What's the difference? You still need to fully cook it. All raw chicken can make you sick.
Great, just as I was about to go out and buy Foster Farms chicken to make for Valentine's dinner
Wow, imagine that, maybe you should FULLY COOK your chicken....
@NW-Economist Most of these problems are from cross contamination. You'd be surprised how stupid people can be when it comes to basic food prep.Â
@lakeview - yes, being careful with the chicken but not washing their hands thoroughly before they touch the lettuce.
@NW-Economist Weird right?