Minnesota Food Alert: Raw Chicken Salmonella Alert Issued
If you're in Minnesota and you buy the premade, but not pre-cooked, "chicken cordon bleu", chicken with “broccoli and cheese”, or "chicken Kiev", you could be in for a world of hurt. Literally.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert due to concerns about illnesses caused by Salmonella Enteritidis that may be associated with those products in Minnesota.
FSIS is investigating a Salmonella Enteritidis illness cluster with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and partners. FSIS suspects that there may be a link between the frozen, raw, breaded, and pre-browned stuffed chicken products and this illness cluster based on information gathered in conjunction with the CDC and state partners. People with illness symptoms have been found from onset dates ranging from February 21, 2021 to May 7, 2021.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture collected frozen, raw, breaded, stuffed chicken products from a retail store for testing. They tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis. However, the production lots tested in Minnesota are not known to have been purchased by any of the people that came down with illness after eating similar foods.
There isn't enough information at this time to issue a recall, but they'll keep investigating. For now, if you purchase these sorts of foods, make sure to follow the directions for cooking them properly.
How Do I Cook The Chicken Properly?
Follow the directions on the box. Apparently, despite the giant "raw chicken" and "uncooked chicken" and cooking directions on the box, the products weren't cooked enough to kill the Salmonella.
- "Cook raw meat and poultry to safe internal temperatures before eating. The temperature to cook beef, pork, veal & lamb steaks, roasts & chops is 145 F with a 3-minute rest time, and 165 F for poultry, as determined with a food thermometer."
- When you buy the stuff from the store, make sure to get it in the freezer or refrigerator (the Chicken Kiev box says, "Cook from frozen) asap. After you cook it, make sure it gets in the fridge within two hours, or one hour if it's a day over 90 degrees.
How Do I know If I Ate Contaminated Food.
- Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses. The most common symptoms of salmonellosis are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 6 hours to 6 days after exposure to the organism.
- The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without treatment. In some persons, however, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized.
- Older adults, infants, and persons with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop a severe illness. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact their health care provider.
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