Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 8/4/11

Federal officials this morning announced updated information on the recent outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg that prompted a voluntary recall of about 36 million pounds of turkey products produced by a division of Cargill Inc.

Among the points discussed by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Federal Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in a conference call:

• There are 78 confirmed cases and one death from the outbreak across 26 states since Mar. 1, 2011.
• The CDC’s initial investigation of reports of clusters of Salmonella Heidelberg cases began May 23, but were not conclusive.
• The CDC recommends that consumers not eat any of the product sold between Mar. 1 and July 5, despite recommendation on the safe handling and cooking of poultry issued earlier this week.
• Although this strain is resistant to many familiar antibiotics (streptomycin, ampicillin), it responds well to another three antibiotics available in hospitals.
• An FSIS inspection at the Cargill plant in Springdale, Ark., continues as investigators suspect that the affected turkey products were produced over multiple days.
• Because the facility processes other meat products, FSIS is working with Cargill to determine whether other products were affected, although FSIS officials say the other products do not have the same level of evidence of contamination.
• The FSIS trackback protocols utilized shopper data to help pinpoint where the affected individuals purchased the suspect turkey after receiving permission from the stricken consumers.
• The probe uncovered some salmonella exposure not associated with Cargill, but the FSIS would not say whether other processors are also being investigated.

Dr. David Goldman, assistant administrator of the Office of Public Health Science at the FSIS, reported that two specific related cases were uncovered on July 18 and a third was confirmed on July 28. He added that Cargill was first contacted on July 28 and responded within hours once it was presented with a full set of facts uncovered in the trackback program yesterday.

Both Goldman and Dr. Chris Braden, director of the CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases unit, stressed that such investigations are complicated and time-consuming in response to questions about the timeline for responding to the outbreak. They added that evaluating the data may help the industry look at ways to prevent similar future outbreaks.

The recall is the second-largest involving meat products in U.S. history after the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. recall in 2008 that involved 143 million pounds of beef.

Meanwhile, the American Meat Institute is reassuring U.S. consumers that the turkey supply is safe, especially if standardized safe handling and cooking procedures are followed. These include cooking ground turkey to 165 degrees Fahrenheit and other practices outlined here. Cargill issued a statement that its other turkey processing plants will continue to operate while the investigation at the Springdale plant moves forward.

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