Chicken: To Eat It, or Not To Eat It?

            That is the question these days, with over 300 people having gotten sick from eating chicken that has been contaminated with an strand of antibiotic resilient Salmonella in the past few weeks. In an editorial in the New York Times titled,"Should You Eat Chicken?", Mark Bittman states the facts about the affect this disease is having on Americans today. He is attempting to appeal to anyone who eats or has eaten chicken from Foster Farms, shops at Costco, or buys any of the products that were processed in the contaminated plant. Basically he is reaching out to common Americans, citizens like you and me.

            In his editorial, Bittman explains that "the Industry" has done little since the outbreak. Foster Farms still hasn't admitted to serving a tainted product and is still putting their chicken on the shelves, even after over 13,000 chicken products were recalled by Costco and taken off their shelves. He argues that we should all stay away from Foster Farms. He states that there's little for the FSIS to do now, although he said that last week they threatened to pull their inspectors from the plant to force the plant to shut down. And 3 days later, Foster Farms “submitted and implemented immediate substantive changes to their slaughter and processing to allow for continued operations.” Now what the heck does that mean? “We cannot tell you what their interventions are, because that’s a proprietary issue,” said Englejohn, adding that the interventions comprise “additional sanitary measures that reduce contamination.” 

            But it doesn't stop there, he also goes on to say that the U.S.D.A. doesn't stand alone here. That the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.), knows that these manufacturers are growing these animals under conditions that are virtually guaranteed to breed disease, and allows them to attempt to ward off disease by feeding them antibiotics from birth until death. After rampant amounts of the drugs are used, new strains of bacteria that are resistant to many antibiotics grow. And this situation he claims is only getting worse, because the presence of salmonella on chicken is both common and acceptable. About a quarter of all chicken parts are contaminated, a fact of which F.S.I.S. is fully aware.

            Now all that's left is for the American people to make a decision for themselves. To eat chicken, or not to eat chicken. That truly is the question. I vote no. Although I have to admit, I didn't eat chicken before read this and haven't eaten chicken in over a year.  I guess this is just all the more reason not to. I think Mr. Bittman did a wonderful job presenting the evidence and asserting his opinion. If you're interested in learning a little more on this issue, Mr. Bittman posted additional follow up information on this topic in a editorial titled, More On Chicken.