Pew Report: Slow government response contributed to illnesses in 2011 Salmonella outbreak
An examination of a Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak linked to ground turkey illustrates that health authorities must be more aggressive in their efforts to detect and respond to foodborne illnesses, according to a new report by The Pew Charitable Trusts, titled "Too Slow: An Analysis of the 2011 Salmonella Ground Turkey Outbreak and Recommendations for Improving Detection and Response." In all, the contaminated food sickened a reported 136 people in the United States, hospitalized 37 and killed one, according to government data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS), working with state health departments, took 22 weeks following the first reported illness on February 27 to identify the contaminated food source. On August 3, Cargill began a recall of approximately 36 million pounds of ground turkey products—one of the biggest poultry recalls ever.