ProPublica, on on-line news organization, has issued a report highly critical of the meat industry and government regulators over the spread of a form of Salmonella bacteria that causes food poisoning.
It dug into the increased incidence of multi-drug resistant infantis strain of Salmonella.
"An eight-month ProPublica investigation into this once rare, but now pervasive form of Salmonella, found that its unchecked spread through the U.S. food supply was all but inevitable, the byproduct of a baffling and largely toothless food safety system that is ill-equipped to protect consumers or rebuff industry influence," the report said.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture recently said it is going to try new approaches to control Salmonella.
While it said the incidence in poultry has declined, that has not resulted in a decline in the number of Salmonella food-poisoning cases in the public.
ProPublica said the European Union has had better success reducing Salmonella in the meat industry and said farmers there are involved in control measures.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service said "a key component of this (new)approach is encouraging controls to reduce Salmonella contamination in birds as they come into the slaughterhouse. We will also be focusing on Salmonella strains in poultry that pose the greatest public health risk and exploring how to better prevent emerging strains, such as Salmonella Infantis, from widely spreading in flocks and, ultimately, sickening consumers."
