The Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation announced a 36 million pounds ground turkey recall on Wednesday over fears of Salmonella Heidelberg contamination. Federal health officials said on Tuesday that a widespread salmonella bacteria outbreak linked to ground turkey had killed at least one person and caused at least 76 others to become sick across the country.
On Wednesday, it was revealed the source of the contaminated ground turkey recalled by Cargill was a company plant in Springdale, Arkansas. The fresh and frozen ground turkey products found to contain salmonella were reportedly processed at the plant between February 20 and August 2.
Cargill’s turkey processing plant in Springdale has been shut down temporarily until the company can determine how the salmonella bacteria has been contaminating the meat.
“It is regrettable that people may have become ill from eating one of our ground turkey products and, for anyone who did, we are truly sorry,” Steve Willardsen, president of Cargill’s turkey processing operations said in a press statement. “We go to great lengths to ensure the food we produce is safe and we fully understand that people expect to be able to consume safe food, each serving, every time.”
Products from Cargill’s other three turkey processing plants in the U.S. were not recalled. No other turkey products from any other sources have been recalled or linked to the salmonella contamination.
According to the CDC The number of persons identified with Salmonella in each state is as follows: AL (1), AZ (2), CA (6), GA (1), IA (1), IL (7), IN (1), KY (2), LA (1), MA (1), MI (10), MN (1), MO (2), MS (1), NC (1), NE (2), NV (1), OH (10), OK (1), OH (10), OK (1), OR (1), PA (5), SD (3), TN (2), TX (9), and WI (3).
Purchasers of Cargill turkey products may return any opened or unopened products listed for recall on the company’s website to the stores where they were purchased for a refund. For a full list of recalled products, visit www.cargill.com/turkey-recall.