Poultry

Consumers urged to cook raw chicken products thoroughly and to avoid using microwave

March 28, 2008 -- State health and agriculture officials said today that two recent cases of salmonellosis in Minnesota have been linked to raw, frozen, breaded and pre-browned, stuffed chicken entrees. The implicated product is Milford Valley Farms Chicken Cordon Bleu with a stamped code of C8021. This product is sold at many different grocery store chains.

This the fifth outbreak of salmonellosis in Minnesota linked to these types of products since 1998. The findings prompted the officials to urge consumers to make sure that all raw poultry products are handled carefully and cooked thoroughly, and to avoid cooking raw chicken products in the microwave because of the risk of undercooking.    » read more »

October 1, 2007 -- Twenty-five E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in eight states and the recall of 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef products are powerful reminders that the federal meat and poultry inspection system must be strengthened and not dismantled in favor of state by state regulation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently overseeing the massive nationwide recall.    » read more »

September 12, 2007 -- LONDON, Ky. – If you’re partial to fried chicken, you’d better not miss the Annual World Chicken Festival Sept. 27-30, 2007 in London, Ky.

The festival features the world’s largest stainless steel skillet for frying the poultry: more than 10 feet in diameter, weighing more than 700 pounds and requiring 300 gallons of cooking oil to fill. The skillet, manufactured by a local metal works and welders, can cook 600 quarters of chicken at one time. Organizers say they’ve served more than 40,000 chicken dinners since the festival’s kickoff in 1992.    » read more »

Statement by Dr. Margaret Mellon, Union of Concerned Scientists

WASHINGTON (June 19, 2007)—Tyson Foods, the nation's largest producer of chicken, announced today that it has begun to produce all of its fresh chicken free of antibiotics and is selling the chicken in grocery stores under a "Raised Without Antibiotics" label.

Below is a statement by Margaret Mellon, director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS):    » read more »

14 June 2007 -- Agricultural officials in Burma say they have detected a new outbreak of bird flu among poultry.

Officials say the H5N1 strain of the virus has been confirmed at a poultry farm in Bago, around 80 kilometers north of Rangoon. Around 1,000 birds have been culled to prevent the spread of the virus.

Burma has reported several outbreaks of bird flu among poultry, but has not reported any cases among humans.

The World Health Organization says 190 people have died from the virus since the outbreak began in 2003, mostly in Asian countries.    » read more »

Two Illinois cases match a multi-state outbreak pattern linked to direct contact with birds

June 14, 2007 -- SPRINGFIELD – Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, Illinois state public health director, is warning the public today about handling birds, such as baby chicks and ducks, and the risk of disease. Two Illinois Salmonella ser. Montevideo cases from separate households in Madison County match a multi-state outbreak pattern linked to contact with birds (ducklings and chicks).    » read more »

Currently No Way to Trace Poultry Contaminated by Feed -- Without Tracking, No Way of Knowing if Contaminated Chickens Were Sold to Consumers in Recent Months; Schumer to Reintroduce Bill that Creates Tracking System to Trace Meat and Poultry to Source in Case of Contamination or Outbreak of Disease

May 2, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - With news that at least 2.5 million chickens in Indiana may have been exposed to contaminated feed, Senator Charles E.    » read more »