Health USDA shutters Foster Farms poultry plant over cockroaches Jan. 8, 2014 at 8:36 PM ET 
 
 Rich Pedroncelli / AP 
 
 The U.S. Department of Agriculture shut down a Foster Farms poultry processing plant in Livingston, Calif., Wednesday, saying it was infested with live cockroaches, which can pose a threat to public health. 
 
 The move comes even as that site and two other California chicken plants remain under heightened USDA scrutiny following two outbreaks of salmonella food poisoning in the past year, including one that is ongoing and has sickened at least 416 people in 23 states and Puerto Rico. 
 
 "Today our inspectors observed insanitary conditions in the plant," said Adam Tarr, a spokesman for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. 
 
 USDA officials said they couldn't confirm how many cockroaches were found or where in the fresh chicken production plant they were located. But a letter from the USDA to Foster said cockroaches were observed at a hand wash sink near an inspection station. 
 
 The agency pulled the inspectors from the plant, which effectively shuts down the operation. 
 
 Foster Farms officials confirmed the shut-down in a statement Wednesday, saying they temporarily stopped operations "to allow for enhanced sanitizing to take place." 
 
 "The plant treatment took place this afternoon and the company expects to fully resume operation once approved for inspection by FSIS," officials said in a statement. 
 
 Company officials later issued an updated statement in which they acknowledged cockroaches were discovered at the plant on Wednesday and four other incidents going back to September 2013. The statement said the company maintains an ongoing pest control program. 
 
 "No other facilities are affected. No products are affected. Product production has been transferred to the company’s other facilities," the updated statement said. 
 
 Cockroaches are considered pests that can carry bacteria, including salmonella. Tarr said that Wednesday's shutdown was not related to the ongoing outbreak. 
 
 FSIS in October threatened to close the Livingston plant and two others in Fresno, Calif., but agreed to allow the firm to remain open while officials put a new multi-step process in place for salmonella control. 
 
 Throughout both salmonella outbreaks, Foster Farms officials issued no recalls of potentially tainted products, instead advising consumers to handle chicken properly and to cook it thoroughly to a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 A US chicken factory, linked to a recent salmonella oubreak, has been shut down after inspectors found live cockroaches for the fourth time in five months. 
 
 US Federal inspectors halted processing at the Foster Farms plant in California following the discovery of "an infestation of live cockroaches," a suspension notice sent by the United States Department of Agriculture said. 
 
 The letter, addressed to Farm Foods CEO Ron Foster, said the latest find demonstrated that the firm had "failed to maintain an effective pest control program ... to assure that wholesome, unadulterated meat and poultry products are produced." 
 
 It said the insects had been discovered at the Livingston plant on four separate occasions between August 1, 2013 and January 8, 2014. They were found in several areas including a sink used for hand washing and a sanitiser dispenser box in meat production areas. 
 
 The plant is one of three in central California being investigated over a nationwide salmonella outbreak, newspaper USA Today reported. 
 
 According to the federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, 416 people across 23 states have been made ill by the ongoing outbreak, the newspaper said. 
 
 Studies have found that cockroaches carry viruses and bacteria, including salmonella. 
 
 In a statement, Foster Farms confirmed that the Livingston plant had been closed for "sanitisation and treatment". It said the treatment had now been completed and the factory was ready for further inspection. 
 
 The company added that the Livingston discovery was an "isolated incident" and "no other facilities were affected". 
 
 "A single incident is not acceptable, and we are committed to a zero tolerance policy," the statement said. 
 
 Foster Farms is the sixth-largest chicken processor in the United States. 
 
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– "Cockroach" and "infestation" are two words you don't want anywhere near your dinner, but the USDA says it encountered just that at a California poultry plant that it wasted no time in shutting down yesterday. Foster Farms said that it immediately conducted "enhanced sanitizing" at its Livingston plant, and said it "expects to fully resume operation" as soon as the USDA can re-inspect the facility. It added that it was "committed to a zero tolerance policy" and that this was an "isolated incident." Ick factor aside, cockroaches are known to carry salmonella and the plant in question is one of three Foster Farms facilities linked to a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds of Americans last year, NBC reports. Maybe not so "isolated:" Food Safety and Inspection Services inspectors said they found the bugs on four different occasions between August and yesterday, notes Sky News. In a letter, the USDA said Foster Farms "failed to maintain an effective pest control program ... to assure that wholesome, unadulterated meat and poultry products are produced." Foster Farms is the nation's No. 6 poultry processor; NBC notes that it issued no recalls during last year's salmonella outbreak. Rather, consumers were warned to properly handle and cook their chicken.