Foster Farms submits cleanup plan, will stay open; DeLauro, Slaughter displeased
October 11, 2013 | 06:40 PM
The Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced late Thursday that Foster Farms, the California poultry producer whose chickens have been the source of antibiotic-resistant salmonella that has sickened hundreds of people, had submitted a plan to clean up its facilities and would be allowed to stay in operation.
“Our top priority is to ensure the safety of the food Americans feed their families,” FSIS said in a statement.
“Foster Farms has submitted and implemented immediate substantive changes to their slaughter and processing to allow for continued operations,” the statement said. “FSIS inspectors will verify that these changes are being implemented in a continuous and ongoing basis. Additionally the agency will continue intensified sampling for at least the next 90 days.”
But Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., called the decision “outrageous,” and Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said it was a “disgrace.”
DeLauro, a former chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, is a strong food-safety advocate and Slaughter is the author of a bill that would control the use of antibiotics in animal production.
“It is outrageous that, having already not recalled any Foster Farms products, the Food Safety and Inspection Service is allowing the company to keep its plants open just days after detailing facility conditions that are clearly a threat to the public health,” DeLauro said in an email to The Hagstrom Report.
“Over 400 people have been sickened by Foster Farms raw chicken products, many of them hospitalized, and yet no recalls have been issued and the facilities continue to operate. FSIS should come forward with the evidence to support their decision immediately. In light of this negligence by FSIS and Foster Farms, I applaud stores that are pulling Foster Farms products off their shelves and urge consumers to avoid these products.”
“It is a disgrace that the USDA, a body charged with protecting the public’s food supply, has chosen to let a repeat offender like Foster Farms continue operations,” Slaughter said in a statement.
“Foster Farms has been cited multiple times for sanitary violations just since January of this year. They had ample opportunity after the July outbreak incident traced to their Washington state plant to clean up all their operations, but they chose not to. Now they are addressing three plants in California, but they — and we — should be worried about all of their plants across the United States.
“The USDA’s toothless decisions endangers public health today, and encourages bad actors in the food industry to continue to break the law tomorrow,” Slaughter continued. “The American people need a regulatory agency that works for them and not the food industry. Until we reach that goal, outbreaks like this will become more common and the public’s health will continue to suffer.”
“Our top priority is to ensure the safety of the food Americans feed their families,” FSIS said in a statement.
“Foster Farms has submitted and implemented immediate substantive changes to their slaughter and processing to allow for continued operations,” the statement said. “FSIS inspectors will verify that these changes are being implemented in a continuous and ongoing basis. Additionally the agency will continue intensified sampling for at least the next 90 days.”
But Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., called the decision “outrageous,” and Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said it was a “disgrace.”
DeLauro, a former chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, is a strong food-safety advocate and Slaughter is the author of a bill that would control the use of antibiotics in animal production.
“It is outrageous that, having already not recalled any Foster Farms products, the Food Safety and Inspection Service is allowing the company to keep its plants open just days after detailing facility conditions that are clearly a threat to the public health,” DeLauro said in an email to The Hagstrom Report.
“Over 400 people have been sickened by Foster Farms raw chicken products, many of them hospitalized, and yet no recalls have been issued and the facilities continue to operate. FSIS should come forward with the evidence to support their decision immediately. In light of this negligence by FSIS and Foster Farms, I applaud stores that are pulling Foster Farms products off their shelves and urge consumers to avoid these products.”
“It is a disgrace that the USDA, a body charged with protecting the public’s food supply, has chosen to let a repeat offender like Foster Farms continue operations,” Slaughter said in a statement.
“Foster Farms has been cited multiple times for sanitary violations just since January of this year. They had ample opportunity after the July outbreak incident traced to their Washington state plant to clean up all their operations, but they chose not to. Now they are addressing three plants in California, but they — and we — should be worried about all of their plants across the United States.
“The USDA’s toothless decisions endangers public health today, and encourages bad actors in the food industry to continue to break the law tomorrow,” Slaughter continued. “The American people need a regulatory agency that works for them and not the food industry. Until we reach that goal, outbreaks like this will become more common and the public’s health will continue to suffer.”
