Salmonella Outbreak in Michigan Linked to Foster Farm Chicken Products

If you have Foster Farm chicken products in your freezer or refrigerator, be certain to check the package for a number inside a USDA inspection mark or somewhere else on the package. If your package has one of these numbers, P6137, P6137A, or P7632, there’s a good chance the meat product is tainted with salmonella, according to the Department of Agriculture health alert for these raw chicken products.

Foster Farms has been producing the tainted chicken products since March of this year causing more than 278 people to be hospitalized. At least two cases of salmonella poisoning have been reported in Michigan. The most common symptoms of salmonella poisoning are headache, fever, chills, abdominal cramps and diarrhea that occur within a few days of eating the contaminated product.

The salmonella-laden chicken is not subject to a recall as it would have been if the contaminate had been e coli. Since salmonella is commonly found in poultry and is killed by thoroughly cooking the product, the government has not declared it to be illegal in chicken or in other meats. Outbreaks of salmonella poisoning from poultry take longer to discover. Recalls do not happen as quickly as in an outbreak of e coli.

The Department of Agriculture has threatened to shutter three Foster Farm facilities citing poor sanitation, insanitary food surfaces and fecal-contaminated carcasses. Foster Farms has until the end of today to tell the department how it will fix these problems.

If you have concerns about any Foster Farm product, call Foster Farms at 800-338-8051. If you believe you have become ill from aFoster Farm product, call us at the Law Offices of Henry Hanflik, 810-720-4000, or toll-free at 888-905-4632. We can help you now!