Foster Farms sets the bar for controlling Salmonella in chicken Safety Zone By James Marsden

During the recent government shutdown, there was a lot of discussion around an outbreak of Salmonellosis on the West Coast linked to raw chicken produced by Foster Farms. The outbreak involved 338 cases in 20 states, but the majority of cases were in Foster Farms’ home state of California. The level of media attention and resulting negative publicity was unusually high because the cases were linked to voids in government public health programs at USDA and CDC caused by the shutdown. As a result, Foster Farms took a major public relations hit and suffered a loss in consumer confidence. It was reported that the company’s sales plunged by 25 percent as a result of the outbreak and the warnings issued by government agencies about the safety of their raw chicken products.  Read More