1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
How safe is that chicken? Douglas Podolsky, senior editor Leslie Ware, editor at large Kimberly Kleman, deputy editorial director, editor in chief, Consumer Reports Linda Greene, program leader, foods and sensory sciences Karen Rauen, director, health & consumer science operation David Schipper, research associate.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
January 2010 issue of Consumer Reports.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Consumer Reports' investigation — including tests of 382 fresh, whole broilers — found that two-thirds of birds tested harbored salmonella and/or campylobacter, the leading bacterial causes of food-borne disease. Our findings show that most companies' safeguards are inadequate. To conduct the tests, we hired an outside laboratory with which our own technical staff worked closely. Consumer Reports also found that most disease-causing bacteria sampled from the contaminated chicken were resistant to at least one antibiotic, potentially making any resulting illness more difficult to treat. Among our findings: " Campylobacter was in 62 percent of the chickens, salmonella was in 14 percent, and both bacteria were in 9 percent. Only 34 percent of the birds were clear of both pathogens. That's double the percentage of clean birds Consumer Reports found in its 2007 article but far less than the 51 percent in the 2003 report. " Among the cleanest overall were organic "air-chilled" broilers (a process in which carcasses are refrigerated and may be misted, rather than dunked in cold chlorinated water). About 60 percent were free of the two pathogens. " Perdue was found to be the cleanest of the brand-name chicken: 56 percent were free of both pathogens. This is the first time since Consumer Reports began testing chicken that one major brand has fared significantly better than others across the board. " Tyson and Foster Farms chickens were found to be the most contaminated; less than 20 percent were free of either pathogens. " Store-brand organic chickens had no salmonella at all, but only 43 percent of those birds were also free of campylobacter. " Among all brands and types of broilers tested, 68 percent of the salmonella and 60 percent of the campylobacter organisms analyzed showed resistance to one or more antibiotics. All of the antibiotics were effective against 32 percent of salmonella samples and 40 percent of the campylobacter samples, as compared to just 16 and 33 percent in 2007.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
For our latest analysis, we had 382 chickens from more than 100 stores in 22 states tested for germ count and resistance to antibiotics. We did not submit any FOI requests.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
We conducted around 2 dozen interviews for this article. We interviewed spokespersons at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, consumer and food safety advocacy groups, chicken producers, the National Chicken Council, food safety researchers, and people who said they were sickened by chicken.
6. Results (if any).
Within months of the publication of our article, the federal government announced it is finally taking steps that we've been calling for to help prevent tens of thousands of human illnesses annually. In May 2010, the Department of Agriculture proposed new rules for poultry processors that it estimates would prevent 65,000 foodborne illnesses a year. The standards aim to reduce salmonella in broilers and turkeys and, for the first time, establish limits for campylobacter. The USDA will publish names of plants that don't meet the revised salmonella standards and will consider naming establishments that don't meet the new campylobacter standards. In June, the Food and Drug Administration recommended steps that would limit the use of some antibiotic drugs in chickens and other food animals. The goal: to reduce the emergence of bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics used in people.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Make sure you have a valid test methodology and follow it precisely. We found the USDA was slow to respond to our questions, so make requests early, and be tenacious. Find published studies on chicken safety at nlm.nih.gov and PubMed.gov and interview the authors. Request information and interviews with spokespersons at the National Chicken Council and major chicken producers. Request tours of their chicken farms and processing facilities. Contact groups such as Safe Tables Our Priority when looking for people who've said they were sickened by chicken.