Is the Meat in Your Freezer Contaminated with Salmonella?

It Could Be.

Since March, it has been reported that one person has died and 76 other people, in 26 different states, have been infected with salmonella. Not only were they infected with salmonella, they were infected with the drug-resistant strain Salmonella Heideberg.

So far, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, California and Pennsylvania seem to be the states with the most infections. To date, it has been reported that Michigan and Ohio had 10 salmonella illnesses, Texas had nine, Illinois had seven, California had six and Pennsylvania had five. These numbers only account for the number of cases reported. There may be many other individuals who became ill after eating tainted meat who did not seek medical attention or had tests performed to confirm a salmonella infection.

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning usually present within eight to seventy-two hours after eating the contaminated food. Many suffer from diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever and dehydration. The infection can be life threatening or harmful to a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.

So why is it that we have so many salmonella infections due to infected meat and there has not been a recall issued? It is because the CDC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service are not sure where the infected meat is coming from. What they do know is that it seems to be linked to turkey meat products. The only alert consumers received so far is to “properly cook your meat.”

On Monday, the CDC issued a statement that their investigators found 4 positive cultures of ground turkey, from different retail locations, that tested positive for this strain of salmonella. Three out of those four samples came from the same manufacturer, yet the public has not been told what manufacturer or farm it is. In addition, it still leaves one manufacturer or farm with tainted meat unidentified. It also leaves one wondering about how many other meat products are infected with salmonella that have not been submitted to or tested by the FDA yet?

Finally, after 5 months of knowing about salmonella infected meat products, local, state and federal public health officials started using DNA from this salmonella bacterium to locate new cases of salmonella infections and trace them back to the origin of the infection. I guess until we find out the source of the infected meat or meats, check your freezer for any turkey based meat, it could be contaminated with salmonella. In addition, it is probably a good idea to thoroughly cook any meat just to be on the safe side.

For the past 54 years, the highly experienced medical teams and lawyers here at the Beasley Firm product liability law firm have reviewed thousands of cases where someone became violently ill and dehydrated after eating, suffered from food poisoning or even wrongfully died after eating spoiled food. Many of our evaluations also involved people who became sick due to eating infected food while on a cruise ship or vacationing on an island. In addition to getting sick, it ruined their vacation. Many of our evaluations also were for people who attended picnics, BBQ’s, or block parties that got sick after eating food that was not properly cooked or chilled to prevent food poisoning.

The experienced medical teams here at the Beasley personal injury law firm consist of nurses and doctors who have seen or actually treated patients with food poisoning and severe dehydration. If you or a loved one became severely sick after eating a meal or suffered from food poisoning, we may be able to help you and your family. Please feel free to call us to speak to one of our legal or medical professionals for a strictly confidential, free, and no risk consultation.