Our Commitment to Food Safety

For more than 70 years, Foster Farms has provided consumers of the West with fresh, healthy, wholesome and safe fresh poultry products. Food safety has always been our highest priority.

Foster Farms has an excellent food safety record. The company employs a Strategic Sampling program above and beyond USDA regulations to monitor the incidence of Salmonella and Campylobacter; microbial bacteria that naturally exist in raw poultry products. The comprehensive testing procedures used by Foster Farms are based on repeatable, verifiable scientific methodologies that have been validated by the USDA's Food Safety Assessment program. Our facilities have consistently earned Category 1 classification – the highest performance category for Salmonella safety and control.

Foster Farms has been at the forefront of adding procedures at the ranch and plant level to reduce the incidence of Salmonella and Campylobacter. Its food safety strategy includes vaccination of breeder flocks, hatchery sanitation programs, and a “multiple-hurdle” approach at the processing plant to better ensure bacteria control. The company continues to aggressively seek out and test new methods of microbial control and eradication.

Foster Farms reminds consumers to follow the Poultry ABCs – Always Be Careful. Fresh poultry must be handled and cooked in accordance with the safe handling guidelines on all packages of chicken. These include: keeping the product refrigerated or frozen; thawing in refrigerator or microwave; keeping raw meat and poultry separate from other foods; washing working surfaces (including cutting boards), utensils and hands after touching raw meat or poultry; keeping hot foods hot; and refrigerating leftovers immediately or discarding. All fresh poultry products should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F (boneless and ground) and 180°F and 170°F (bone-in: breast and drums; thighs and wings), as measured by a meat thermometer.

For more information about proper poultry handling and cooking, please visit the USDA website and our Kitchen Safety page.