Chicken products sicken Tenn. inmates, CDC says

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/white-slime-chicken-products-sicken-tenn-inmates-cdc-says-2D11934338

JoNel Aleccia NBC News
Jan. 15, 2014

At least nine inmates at a Tennessee jail have been sickened by salmonella detected in a paste-like chicken product sometimes known as “white slime,” part of an outbreak that may have affected people in 13 states.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service was notified in December of an outbreak of salmonella infections from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5. Tyson officials recalled nearly 34,000 pounds of mechanically separated chicken sent to institutions on Jan. 10.

Epidemiological and traceback investigations found that the illnesses were probably linked to the chicken. Mechanically separated meat is a paste-like product made by forcing beef, pork, turkey or chicken through a sieve or other device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue. The paste is then formed into foods like fully-cooked lunch meat and hot dogs.

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Tyson officials emphasized that the product was sold for institutional use nationwide, and was not available for purchase in grocery stores. The products were sent to institutional customers with distribution centers in eight states: California, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

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