Between 2004 and 2012, health officials in Oregon and Washington warned the U.S. Department of Agriculture that they had on a number of occasions linked outbreaks of salmonella bacteria to consumption of Foster Farms chicken. The occurrence became common enough for health officials in Oregon to refer to the “Foster Farms strain.” By 2012, what had been a regional problem, became a national epidemic, with confirmed cases of salmonellosis in 10 states – by 2013, dozens of states were counting over 600 victims of the Foster Farms strains. And even then, Foster Farms refused to admit fault or order a meaningful recall
All in all, in the last decade (2004 through 2014) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified almost 1,000 cases of food poisoning likely linked to Foster Farms chicken. Industry wisdom states that for every one confirmed case there are likely as many as 30 more. In short, there could have been upwards of 30 thousand victims in the last decade, and Foster Farms has simply washed their hands of any liability.
Throughout this time, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued hundreds of citations to Foster Farms, recounting numerous instances of violations in basic sanitation at their poultry processing facilities. Even so, Foster Farms continued to ship poultry it knew to have a high probability of infection with salmonella to unknowing consumers.
Hopefully 2015 will be the end of that practice. The salmonella lawyers at Ron Simon & Associates are now representing many of these victims, and with the many FSIS reports in hand, will push to hold Foster Farms accountable for its actions. Among the many victims represented by salmonella lawyer Ron Simon, is the young victim whose illness led directly to one of the only recalls Foster Farms has issued in recent years. According to Ron Simon, “Foster Farm’s attempts to blame consumers for their illness must end, and the company must be held accountable knowingly distributing poisoned food to the American consumer.”
Ron Simon thanks Lynne Terry of the Oregonian for her excellent reporting.
