The nation is making little or no progress in preventing bacteria-laden chickens from reaching U.S. grocery stores and making thousands of Americans sick each year, and Consumer Reports found in a recent test that a third of the ground chicken samples contained salmonella.
Nearly 1.4 million Americans become infected with salmonella each year, including 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths, and food is the leading source of disease, according to federal health officials. And more than 20 percent of salmonella diseases come from eating contaminated poultry, which “remains a major food security concern in the U.S.,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said last month that it was rethinking its focus on salmonella in poultry in light of recently published research. The research found that the standards implemented in 2016 significantly reduced salmonella in chicken, but not salmonella-related diseases related to eating poultry.
An increase in antimicrobial-resistant strains is part of the problem, according to findings published by the International Journal of Food Microbiology and published last week by FSIS. The agency is now reviewing whether to change its strategy and plans to hold a public hearing on the issue later this year, he said.
The agency’s review comes amid new findings about poultry from Consumer Reports, which on Friday said it detected salmonella in a third, or 23, of the 75 samples of ground chicken tested.
The nonprofit consumer watchdog group found no difference between organic birds and conventionally bred birds, with no particular brand standing out as better or worse than others.
“Salmonella in ground chicken is more common than it should be,” said James Rogers, director of food safety research and testing at CR. “This is not an isolated or content issue”.
Most people who get salmonella have diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps.
Consumer Reports advises grocery buyers to store raw meat in a disposable bag, separate from other foods, to reduce the risk of contamination, and not to rinse raw meat, as this could spread the bacteria. The chicken should be cooked at 165 ° F.
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- Salmonella
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