After enhancing safety programs and receiving approval from USDA, Cargill has resumed ground turkey production at its plant in Springdale, Ark., which was linked to a massive recall of ground turkey contaminated with Salmonella Heidelberg.
Cargill had voluntarily recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey after learning that CDC had detected a number of Salmonella-related illnesses. "We acted swiftly out of concern for public health and safety, announcing the recall and shutting down production Aug. 3," the company said in an announcement.
Before resuming operations, Cargill said it:
- Disassembled and steam cleaned plant equipment.
- Put in place the most aggressive monitoring and testing program in the poultry industry.
- Added two antibacterial measures to those already in place and required Springdale suppliers to use comparable antibacterial technology.
- Established an independent panel of scientific experts to go over the plant "with a fine-toothed comb" to make sure it hadn't missed anything.
“Our facility has produced ground turkey for more than 20 years without a food safety problem,” said Steve Willardsen, president of Cargill’s turkey processing business. “We will continue to look for ways to improve our preventive measures across the supply chain, from animal production to turkey harvest and product manufacturing.”
Cargill plans to apply what it has learned to its other ground turkey plant and share it with the industry as well, "because our goal is to provide safe food, every time, everywhere," the announcement said.
Information on the recall and resumption of production is available at Cargill.
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