Spanish officials have said steps taken in response to more than a dozen Salmonella infections were “sufficient and proportionate” to protect public health.
Two outbreaks affected 14 people at two elderly care homes in Madrid late this past year and were linked to chicken burger meat. No information has been made public about the patients, such as their ages or severity of their illnesses.
The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) said that because the supply chain of the products involved wholesale and they were not directly sold to the final consumer, the information about the incident was sent via official control channels and it was not considered necessary to publically warn about the existence of items in the market that may have posed a risk to health. This means names of the firms involved have been kept private.
In late December 2021, consumer group FACUA called for the companies involved to be named and details released to identify the contaminated meat to prevent more people from becoming ill.
The association wrote to AESAN and the Ministry of Health in Madrid about the lack of transparency given the potential seriousness of the situation.
