Foster Farms’ 2013 salmonella outbreak scrutinized on PBS

A PBS documentary questions how Foster Farms and the federal government handled a 2013 salmonella outbreak tied to raw chicken processed in Livingston and Fresno.

“The Trouble with Chicken,” which premiered nationwide Tuesday night on the “Frontline” series, examines how the product is tested for the microbe. It also asks why no recall was ordered during much of the outbreak, which sickened more than 600 people, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Foster Farms declined to comment on camera, but it did provide “Frontline” with a written statement about its recent anti-salmonella efforts.

Ira Brill, the company’s director of communications, said by email Wednesday that the program did not include this. He noted that salmonella detections have been below 5 percent for raw chicken parts since April 2014, which is about a fifth of the industry benchmark and a third of the new standard proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“The broadcast failed to mention that Foster Farms has shared its learning in controlling salmonella with CDC, USDA and the rest of the poultry industry in the interest of creating a safer national food supply,” Brill said.

Foster Farms, founded west of Waterford in 1939, now is based in Livingston and is the top-selling poultry brand in the West. It processes turkey in Turlock and chicken in Livingston, Fresno and other sites in five Western and Southern states.

The documentary said testing for salmonella, which occurs naturally in live chickens, has mainly focused on whole carcasses rather than the cut-up parts that are more likely to harbor the microbe. It also questioned the frequency of testing and whether especially virulent strains were being missed.

“A company can meet the salmonella performance standards … (but) their product can still be responsible for producing an outbreak of food-borne illness,” William James, a former public health veterinarian for the USDA, told “Frontline.”

The program also explained that a recall was not required until a link was made between a specific product and an ill person. It said that happened with the May 2014 discovery of chicken in a consumer’s freezer.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told “Frontline” that he does not have authority under federal law to order a recall without that kind of finding. He also noted that the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service had earlier threatened to suspend operations at the Livingston and Fresno plants. That was averted when Foster Farms submitted an improvement plan.

The program and the “Frontline” website touch on the steps that consumers can take to render salmonella harmless, including cooking the meat thoroughly and carefully washing hands, utensils and cutting boards. Foster Farms and state and federal agencies have offered the same advice.

Another written statement from the company Tuesday expanded on the prevention efforts at farms and plants: “Over the last two years, Foster Farms has intensified its salmonella control program and invested $75 million in food-safety advances. The company implemented a multi-faceted approach to controlling salmonella that covers all areas of the company’s operations – from breeder stock, through grow-out to the processing plant.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Foster Farms’ 2013 salmonella outbreak scrutinized on PBS."