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Chicks await purchase in a Houston feed and farm supply store February 24, 2004. Eighty-three...
USDA disputes claim that U.S. chicken unsafe
By Christopher Doering Mon Dec 4, 7:44 PM ET
Critics, however, said the study by Consumer Reports suffered from flaws that included an unreliably small number of samples. A U.S. Agriculture Department spokesman called the report "junk science."
Consumer Reports said tests on 525 chickens -- including samples from leading brands Perdue, Pilgrim's Pride Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. -- showed most of the poultry had campylobacter or salmonella, two of the leading causes of food-borne diseases. A test conducted in 2003 showed 49 percent of the birds had at least one of the bacteria.
"We think it's really startling," said Jane Halloran, a policy director for Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports. "It's a very significant deterioration in food safety."
No major U.S. chicken brand fared better in the study than the others, but Tyson had the lowest salmonella level and the highest rate of campylobacter. Similarly, Perdue had the fewest samples with campylobacter, but the most cases of salmonella.
A spokesman with the U.S. Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service said the study was riddled with flaws such as a small sample size and uncertainty over the report's methodology.
Steven Cohen, spokesman for the agency, said the report did not go back to all the stores used in the 2003 report.
He said it also failed to mention what type of salmonella was found, noting that one common strain, Salmonella Kentucky, doesn't make people ill.
"There is virtually nothing or any conclusion that anyone could draw from 500 samples," said Cohen. "They're passing along junk science and calling it an investigation."
SURGE IN BACTERIA BLAMED
The study said the decline in chicken safety was tied largely to a surge in the campylobacter bacteria, which can be carried by birds without them becoming ill, but causes diarrhea in people.
About 81 percent of the chickens tested positive for the pathogen, up from 42 percent in 2003. Halloran said she could not determine what was responsible for the increase.
Salmonella, which causes diarrhea, headache and fever in most people, is one of the most frequently reported causes of food-borne illness in the United States. Consumer Reports estimated 15 percent of the chickens tested had salmonella, up 3 percent from the prior report.
USDA's Cohen said 11.4 percent of 8,000 broiler samples through September of this year tested positive for salmonella, which if it held for the remainder of the year would be down from 16.3 percent in 2005.
The department has not carried out a national prevalence study for campylobacter in broilers, but plans to begin conducting one in late January.
"The evidence of our faltering food safety system continues to mount while the administration refuses to acknowledge the problem, believing that adequate safeguards are in place," said Democratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut, and Henry Waxman, California, citing the need for a better system to detect for campylobacter in raw chicken.
The National Chicken Council said the report contained nothing new and "greatly exaggerated" the rate of bacteria in raw chicken.
"Consumer Reports says what every cook already knows, that fresh poultry may carry naturally occurring bacteria and should be properly handled and cooked," said spokesman Richard Lobb.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the two bacteria, which can be spread through other avenues in addition to chicken, cause millions of illnesses and 700 fatalities annually.
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