Thanksgiving turkey contamination highlights product recall best practices

Behind the scenes of this year’s turkey product salmonella outbreak, debate continues on how authorities treat salmonella and what protections should be given to the public. (Bloomberg)

With Thanksgiving just days away, the drug-resistant salmonella outbreak in raw turkey products has now expanded nationwide, resulting in one death and dozens of hospitalizations.

Many consumers may be alarmed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has not yet identified the source of the outbreak. A leading U.S. turkey brand just issued a recall of more than 91,000 pounds of turkey, but it is not the only company affected by this widespread outbreak. The complexity of this particular strain is found in many products, and is proving difficult to trace back to the source of origination.