Health officials warn of deadly salmonella in frozen chicken tenders, nuggets and kievs, after 14 outbreaks sickened 200 people

Health officials have warned Americans about the risks of fatal food poisoning from ready-to-eat frozen chicken products, such as kievs, tenders and nuggets.

In a recently released memo, the USDA announced plans to reduce the number of salmonella-infected chicken products on grocery store shelves – following recent outbreaks in at least 36 states.

Salmonella is one of the most common forms of food poisoning in the US, hospitalizing approximately 26,000 citizens each year. It is most commonly associated with undercooked meat, poultry and eggs.

There have been 14 outbreaks of the disease in multiple states since 1998, linked to chicken products alone, sickening a total of at least 200 people — including one in 2021.

Officials say more than 1.3 million Americans get sick from salmonella each year, while 420 people die from the infections.

Salmonella – which lives in the intestines of chickens – can easily be transferred to cuts such as thighs and breasts during processing.

It could then survive if the meat is not cooked to 74 degrees Celsius before eating. This is often the case with breaded products, which are only slightly heated to set the batter.

People who eat meat contaminated with salmonella can become ill because the microbe can survive stomach acid and then cause an infection in the intestines.

Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever.

In more severe cases, however, the disease can progress to dehydration – due to fluid loss – and blood poisoning if the microbe enters the bloodstream.

Infections can be fatal if the infection causes endocarditis – or inflammation of the heart wall – or meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

Current rules allow up to 10 percent of chicken products tested to contain salmonella, according to the USDA. It is assumed that the salmonella will be killed when the meat is cooked.

But under revised guidelines currently being considered, the microbe would be declared an “adulterant” – or a contaminant that could cause foodborne illness.

This would shift the “safe” threshold from batch percentages to the amount of bug on each gram of chicken.

Less than one colony-forming unit of salmonella per gram of chicken would be allowed before stuffing and breading.

Products found to violate the rule, which takes effect in 2025, would not be allowed on store shelves and products containing too much salmonella would be recalled.

The USDA says this is an important step toward achieving its goal of reducing domestically acquired salmonella infections by 25 percent by 2030.

But the National Chicken Council – which represents manufacturers – has rejected it as it risks factory closures, costs jobs and increases the price of chicken.

It added in a statement: ‘This could safely remove food and convenient products from shelves without endangering public health.’

The above map shows states affected by the 2021 salmonella outbreak linked to breaded chicken

Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, applauded the decision, saying, “Salmonella contamination in poultry sickens hundreds of thousands of Americans every year.

“The new USDA rule on salmonella in breaded and raw chicken products is a historic development in the effort to reduce salmonella illness rates.

“This rule should be just the beginning and will hopefully lead to additional efforts to address salmonella contamination in other poultry products.”

One of the latest outbreaks occurred in 2021, with breaded chicken linked to at least three dozen illnesses in 11 states. Twelve people were also hospitalized.

Most cases occurred in Illinois, but infections were reported across the country — including in New York, Connecticut, Minnesota and even Arizona and Nevada.