Recalls shouldn’t ruin holiday dinner

Associated Press

NEW YORK

There’s no reason to skip Thanksgiving dinner because of a salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey.

That’s according to health officials who have been monitoring the year-old outbreak. But they say it’s a reminder to properly prepare your holiday bird. Cooking kills salmonella.

There also was a recall last week of ground turkey.

Since it began last year, the outbreak linked to raw turkey has caused one death and 164 reported illnesses in 35 states.

Until last week, regulators hadn’t been able to tie any cases to a specific product or supplier. That’s even though investigators said 29 unidentified slaughtering and processing plants tested positive for the salmonella strain involved.

The USDA tied one illness in Arizona to Jennie-O ground turkey meat. The recall by Jennie-O was limited to turkey from a single day’s production in September from a manufacturing line in Wisconsin. The packages had use-by dates of early October but could still be in freezers.

Regulators say more products from other companies could still be linked to the illnesses. Parent company Hormel Foods Corp. said it owns five of the 29 plants that tested positive for the germ.