DeLauro Tells USDA: Remove Tainted Poultry From Stores

US Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro today introduced legislation to guarantee that contaminated meat, poultry and egg products are taken off the market. The 3rd District Democrat said that the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has failed to recall some tainted food because it claims it doesn’t have the authority to do so under current law. “We need federal agencies that will protect public health, not bend to the threats of deep-pocketed food producers seeking to escape regulation,” DeLauro said, in a statement with Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a New York Democrat, who is the bill’s co-sponsor. They pointed out that the USDA failed to recall chicken produced by California-based Foster Farms, despite a salmonella outbreak over the past year that got more than 600 people sick and resulted in some 240 hospitalizations. This is double the amount of hospitalizations in a typical salmonella outbreak, according to DeLauro, a member of the House Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee.