A Costco store in San Francisco has recalled 39,755 pounds of rotisserie chicken products after outbreak investigators traced them to a Salmonella Heidelberg illness cluster, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Oct 12.
The products were sold at Costco's El Camino Real store in South San Francisco and include 8,730 "Kirkland Signature Foster Farms" rotisserie chickens and 313 units of soup, chicken leg quarters, and chicken salad made from the rotisserie chicken, according to the recall notice from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
The chicken was apparently sourced from Foster Farms, the company that has been linked to a multistate Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak that has so far sickened 317 people in 20 states, according to the latest information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The genetic fingerprint of the Salmonella Heidelberg that sickened patients in the illness cluster associated with the Costco rotisserie chicken is one rarely seen in the United States, according to the FSIS.
The FSIS said the California cluster is part of a larger group of Salmonella Heidelberg infections that are known to be resistant to multiple antibiotics.
In its recall notice, the FSIS urged consumers not to rely on cooking times for each side of the product that are listed on cooking instructions. Though instructions may include a specific number of minutes for each side to reach an internal temperature of 165°F, actual cooking time may vary due to method and initial temperature of the product. Instead, a food thermometer should be used to gauge when food has reached the final internal temperature of 165°F needed to destroy foodborne bacteria.
Meanwhile, the CDC said on Oct 11 that the new outbreak total includes 39 more illnesses and 3 additional affected states, pushing the number of affected states to 39, plus Puerto Rico. Two of the newly reported patients have illness-onset dates after Sep 24, the most recent date reported in the CDC's initial outbreak announcement on Oct 8. Of 189 patients with available information, 79 (42%) have been hospitalized.
Thirteen percent of the sick patients had blood infections as a result of their illness, the CDC said. Typically about 5% of patients with salmonellosis have sepsis. So far no deaths have been reported.
The lab investigation has found seven outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg, eached linked to multidrug-resistant infections, which can increase the risk of hospitalization and possible treatment failure, the agency said.
Investigations and lab tests on products all point to chicken produced at three of Foster Farms' California facilities as the likely source of the outbreak. Though the FSIS issued a public health alert to consumers about chicken produced at the three plants, so far none of the products have been recalled, except for the rotisserie chicken that was sold at the single Costco store.
See also:
Oct 12 FSIS recall notice
Oct 11 CDC outbreak update
