16.3 million kg of turkey products recalled in the US

In one of the US’s largest Class I recalls, Cargill Meat Solutions is recalling approximately 16.3 million kilograms of ground turkey products that may be contaminated with a multidrug-resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg.

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) initiated a public health alert on 29 July due to concerns about 79 persons infected with Salmonella Heidelberg reported from 26 states between 1 March and 3 August 2011. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg is resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics. Among the ill persons with available information, 22 (38%) have been hospitalised and one death has been reported.

As a result of the epidemiologic and traceback investigations, as well as in-plant findings, FSIS determined that there is a link between the Cargill ground turkey products produced at the company’s Springvale, Arkansas, plant and this illness outbreak. Cargill’s other three turkey processing facilities have not been implicated in this outbreak.

Production at the Springvale plant has been suspended.

“Given our concern for what has happened, and our desire to do what is right for our consumers and customers, we are voluntarily removing our ground turkey products from the marketplace,” Steve Willardsen, President of Cargill's turkey processing business, said in a statement.

He said that production of ground turkey will not start up again at the plant “until the source can be pinpointed and actions to address it are taken”.

There are three USDA Recall Classifications with Class I being the most serious. Class I indicates a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death; Class II is a health hazard situation where there is a remote probability of adverse health consequences from the use of the product; and Class III is a situation where the use of the product will not cause adverse health consequences.

Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses. Salmonella infections can be life-threatening, especially to those with weak immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy. The most common manifestations of salmonellosis are diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and fever within six to 72 hours. Additional symptoms may be chills, headache, nausea and vomiting that can last up to seven days.