The United States Department of Agriculture along with the
Minnesota-based meat company Cargill announced the recall of 36
million pounds of ground turkey from an Arkansas plant that has
been linked to a deadly salmonella outbreak.
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The United States Department of Agriculture along with the Minnesota-based meat company Cargill announced the recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey from an Arkansas plant that has been linked to a deadly salmonella outbreak.
Seventy-six people in 26 states have fallen ill and one person has died in the Sacramento area apparently from eating ground turkey infested with the salmonella strain.
The announcement of the “voluntary” recall by Cargill and recommendation by the USDA came Wednesday night.
Cargill’s corporate Vice President Mike Fernandez said, “While there is no definitive evidence that reported cases of salmonella are linked to Cargill products, the company was concerned and decided on its own to recall product and to halt ground turkey processing at its facility in Springdale, Arkansas until the situation is better understood.”
Salmonella symptoms are undetectable by smell or look, according to the USDA. They include diarrhea, stomach cramping and fever within eight to 72 hours of digesting a food-borne illness.
Grocery stores are required to pull Cargill ground turkey from its shelves and dispose of it. Cargill ground turkey is not sold at the Safeway store in Gilroy, according to a store manager Wednesday afternoon.
Neither fresh nor frozen ground turkey from Cargill (both have been recalled) is sold by Nob Hill stores in Gilroy, or elsewhere at Raley’s grocery stores. The chains’ ground turkey supplies have not been contacted by state or federal agencies about the salmonella outbreak, said Raley’s spokeswoman Ashley Zepernick. Raley’s is based in Sacramento.
“We’re reminding concerned customers to handle raw poultry safely and to cook ground turkey to 165 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid risk of health concerns,” Zepernick said Wednesday evening.
Check back for updates.
