ATLANTA – Two more individuals were infected by Salmonella enteritidis after eating frozen chicken products made by Aspen Foods, a unit of Koch Food Group, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. This brings the case count to five.
The Minnesota Dept. of Health and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the US Dept. of Agriculture have been conducting an ongoing food safety investigation into the outbreak which began in May. To date, five people have been infected with two outbreak strains of Salmonella enteritidis and two of those sickened were hospitalized, according to CDC. The illnesses occurred in Minnesota after people had eaten Antioch Farms brand frozen, raw, stuffed and breaded chicken entrees produced by Aspen Foods.
Aspen Foods launched a recall of 1.9 million lbs. of product on concerns of Salmonella contamination. On Sept. 17, FSIS reported that chicken entrees recently produced by Aspen Foods contained the outbreak strain of Salmonella enteritidis. Aspen Foods declined to recall products produced after July 30 prompting FSIS to issue a public health alert urging consumers not to eat the products.
