Turkey products are the suspected source of an ongoing Salmonella Hadar outbreak, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS). On March 22, 11 states had reported 24 illnesses that are part of this outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
On April 10, USDA-FSIS issued a health alert for the risk of Salmonella Hadar in Plainville ground turkey connection with an outbreak that has sickened 28 people in 12 states. The affected products were produced by Plainville Brands, LLC of Oxford, PA and sold under the brand names Nature’s Promise, Wegmans, and Plainville Farms. The ground turkey products have “use or sell by” dates ranging from 1/1/21 to 1/10/21, but the agency is concerned some consumers may have these products in their freezers.
How Common is Salmonella Hadar?
There are more than 2,500 Salmonella serotypes, but fewer than 100 of them account for most human illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has historically published an annual report on the number of lab-confirmed cases reported for each serotype in the U.S. These reports reveal that Salmonella Hadar isn’t very common. In the report for 2016, the most current year for which data is available, it didn’t even crack the Top 20. Salmonella Enteritidis, which occupied the top spot, caused 7,830 illnesses that year while 205 people were sickened by Salmonella Hadar.
Yet, there have been outbreaks.
Over the last decade, Salmonella Hadar has been linked to a half dozen outbreaks associated with backyard poultry flocks and one outbreak linked to Jennie-O turkey burgers. The turkey burger outbreak, which occurred exactly 10 years ago, sickened 12 people in 10 states. Three people were hospitalized. The number of cases reported from each state was: Arizona (1), California (1), Colorado (1), Georgia (1), Illinois (1), Missouri (1), Mississippi (1), Ohio (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (3).
What Turkey Products Have Tested Positive for Salmonella Hadar?
USDA FSIS tests samples of poultry products produced and regularly publishes this information. For turkey, the results are broken down into two reports, one for ground turkey, one for whole carcasses. Ground turkey is more frequently purchased than whole turkey and is more frequently linked to illnesses. Since 2011, there have been four multistate Salmonella outbreaks linked to turkey products and all of them have involved ground turkey.
Data for these reports from 2015 through September 2020 show 11 instances where whole carcasses tested positive for Salmonella Hadar and 104 instances when ground turkey products tested positive. Some companies had multiple positive tests for Salmonella Hadar in ground turkey during that time period. The companies with the most positive tests were:
- Foster Frams, Turlock, CA (13)
- Cargill Meat Solutions, Dayton, VA (11)
- The Hillshire Brands Company, Storm Lake, IA (10)
- Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales, Willmar, MN (10)
- Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales, Barron, WI (9)
- Abbyland Foods Inc., Abbotsford, WI (9)
- Plainville Brands, LLC, New Oxford, PA (7)
- Michigan Turkey Producers Co-op, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI (5)
- Butterball LLC, Carthage, MO (5)
Where did Salmonella Hadar show up most recently? The companies with positive tests for Salmonella Hadar during the first nine months of 2020 were:
- Abbyland Foods Inc., Abbotsford, WI (7)
- Cargill Meat Solutions, Dayton, VA (4)
- Butterball LLC, Carthage, MO (1)
- Foster Frams, Turlock, CA (1)
- Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales, Barron, WI (1)
- Plainville Brands, LLC, New Oxford, PA (1)
Symptoms of a Salmonella infection
Symptoms of a Salmonella infection include nausea, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea that can be bloody. These symptoms usually appear within six to 72 hours of exposure.
If you have developed a Salmonella Hadar infection from contaminated turkey and would like a free consultation with an experienced Salmonella lawyer, please contact the Pritzker Hageman Salmonella Legal Team. We have represented clients in every major Salmonella outbreak in the U.S. You can reach us by calling 1-888-377-8900, sending a text to 612-261-0856, or by completing the form below. There is no obligation and we don’t get paid unless we win.
UPDATED: This post was updated 4/12/21 to include updated illness totals and health alert inofrmation. This post was updated 3/25/21 to include illness totals and states affected by the outbreak.