Salmonella found in a third of ground chicken, Consumer Reports says
CBSN
The nation is making little to no headway in preventing bacteria-laden chicken from landing in U.S. grocery stores and sickening thousands of Americans annually, with Consumer Reports finding in a recent test that one-third of ground chicken samples contained salmonella.
Nearly 1.4 million Americans are infected with salmonella each year, including 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths, with food the major source of the illnesses, according to federal health officials. And more than 20% of salmonella illnesses stem from eating tainted poultry, which "remains a significant food safety concern in the U.S.," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) last month said it is rethinking its approach to salmonella in poultry in light of newly released research. The research found that standards implemented in 2016 significantly reduced salmonella in chicken, but not salmonella-related illnesses related to eating poultry.
