USDA May Close Three Poultry Plants in California Due to Salmonella Outbreak: UPDATE

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers closing three poultry plants in California that are operated by Foster Farms, due to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning, according to the LA Times.

Approximately 278 people nationwide have been sickened due to the said outbreak. The USDA sent a letter to Foster Farms on Monday saying that sanitary conditions at the three facilities were so poor and posed a "serious ongoing threat to public health."

The agency has also ordered Foster Farms, one of the nation's leading privately-owned poultry producers to create a plan by Thursday to specifically clean up the plants. Two plants are located in Fresno and the third plant is located in Livingstone, California where the company is based. However, Foster Farms has not yet responded to the USDA's demand letter and has not yet commented regarding the issue.

Earlier this week, the USDA issued an alert that warned consumers to avoid raw chicken from the three poultry facilities after they detected strains of Salmonella Heidelberg, a strain that has been directly linked to human illness. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 42 percent of those who were contaminated were hospitalized which doubled the normal rate for the outbreak. The CDC also confirmed that some of the salmonella strains detected proved to be resistant to antibiotics.

"That helps explain the high rates of hospitalization," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is calling for a recall of poultry from the problem facilities. "It is outrageous that Foster Farms has not issued a recall in the face of so many illnesses associated with their product," said Urvashi Rangan, toxicologist and executive director of the Consumer Reports Food Safety and Sustainability Center.