After FRONTLINE’s documentary on Salmonella in poultry aired Tuesday night on PBS, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) officially introduced legislation to give the U.S. Department of Agriculture mandatory recall authority over contaminated meat and poultry. Gillibrand discussed her Meat and Poultry Recall Notification Act with reporters in February, saying that,
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TV Station Reveals Food Safety Violations at Foster Farms Plant
Following back-to-back Salmonella outbreaks linked to chicken from Foster Farms, one of the company’s processing plants in Kelso, WA, continued to have dozens of health violations in 2014, according to records obtained by Portland, OR, TV station KGW. KGW obtained federal inspection reports for the Kelso plant
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Avian Flu Detected in Foster Farms Turkey Flock
A strain of avian flu has been found at a Foster Farms turkey ranch in Stanislaus County, CA, the company announced this past Saturday. It’s the first time the virus has been found in commercial poultry since 2004. According to USDA policy, the ranch was quarantined and the animals
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The 10 Worst U.S. Foodborne Illness Outbreaks of 2014
This year saw dozens of well-publicized foodborne illness outbreaks caused by everything from bean sprouts to cilantro to caramel apples. Food Safety News has compiled a list of the 10 most harmful U.S. outbreaks of 2014, in terms of both the number of people who died and the number sickened.
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2014 in Review: Animal Antibiotics
Food Safety News wrote a lot about antibiotic resistance this year — particularly the debate surrounding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) plan to phase out the use of certain antibiotics in food animals, introduced in December 2013, and conversations sparked by the 16-month outbreak of multi-drug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg linked
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The Top 10 Food-Safety News Stories of 2014
The top 10 food-safety news stories for 2014, as chosen for the sixth consecutive year by the editors of Food Safety News, were announced today. According to the Internet news site, here are this year’s most important food-safety stories: 1. The U.S. Department of Justice backs up federal food-safety agencies,
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In Wake of Outbreak, Foster Farms Outlines Salmonella Reduction Program
Foster Farms, the California-based poultry company whose chicken was the source of a recent 17-month Salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 600 people, has shared the plan it’s been implementing to control contamination of its product. The processor’s program, highlighted Thursday in a press release covering the Delmarva Poultry Industry’s
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Are Recalls an Effective Element of Food Safety?
Consumers have grown accustomed to the routine of food safety recalls: A food company announces a recall after releasing a product into the market that later turns out to be contaminated with a harmful pathogen, or is otherwise faulty. The company advises customers to check the identifying numbers on the
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Foster Farms: Food-Safety Leader or Bad Actor?
After 11 years at the helm of California-based poultry producer Foster Farms, Ron Foster announced last week that he was stepping down as president and CEO of the company his grandparents started 75 years ago. 
Over those 11 years, the company has attracted a lot of attention related to Salmonella,
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President and CEO of Foster Farms to Step Down
Ron Foster, the president and CEO of California-based Foster Farms, announced Thursday that he will step down from those positions within the poultry company, according to the Modesto Bee. However, he will remain an owner and board member. Foster, 56, has served for 11 years as head of the
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