According to a report released by Food and Water Watch, Agriprocessors, Inc. the Postville, Iowa, producers of Aaron's Best, Rubashkin, and other kosher meat, chicken and turkey brands, failed 3 separate USDA testings for salmonella, the virulent bacteria that is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the US.
This puts Agriprocessors in the worst 15% of slaughterhouses in the United States.
Details after the jump in the extended post below…
According to Food and Water Watch:
…27 poultry slaughter plants (out of a total of 189 facilities) of all sizes failed FSIS Salmonella test sets in 2006 or 2007. This means that more than 12 of the 51 samples – 24 percent – collected in a testing period at each slaughterhouse registered positive for the pathogen.
Rubashkin failed three separate times since 2000 (marked in red). Passinf tests are marked in green, except for the most recent testing, marked in blue, which found Salmonella at the worst possible level to still receive a passing grade:
4653A P
Agriprocessors Inc.
Iowa
Large [facility size]# Date Number of positives
1 Nov-00 13
2 Jun-01 0
3 Aug-04 9
4 Dec-05 15
5 Aug-06 14
6 Apr-07 12
Food and Water Watch press release.
PDF of Food and Water Watch report.
Salmonella information from the USDA.
[Hat Tip: UOJ.]