Despite a salmonella outbreak at a California chicken-processing plant, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will not close it down, USA Today reported.

USDA spokesman Aaron Lavallee said three plants would not be shut down and inspectors would monitor their changes on a "continuous and ongoing basis." Also, for the next 90 days, the inspectors will sample Foster Farms' products.

"Foster Farms has submitted and implemented immediate substantive changes to their slaughter and processing to allow for continued operations," Lavallee said Thursday.

Foster Farms will not recall chicken from the three plants, as the USDA could not tie outbreaks to specific products and lots. Instead, Kroger Co., a grocery company, will recall the chicken from their plants, who in turn recalled the products from various West Coast stores.

"It should be noted that while no illness is ever acceptable, the time period for this issue was over the course of six months from March to mid-September," Foster Farms CEO Ron Roster said in a statement. "During that time, more than 25 million consumers safely consumed Foster Farms chicken."

Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Health, agreed with Foster, who stressed that proper preparation and handling can help avoid certain illnesses. For that reason, Chapman did not request Foster Farms recall their chicken.

"Chicken is a raw animal protein that is expected to have some level of naturally occurring bacteria present," Chapman said. "Provided that consumers do not cross-contaminate fully cooked chicken with raw chicken juices, it is safe to consume."

Foster and Chapman emphasized that if consumers cook the chicken to 165 degrees, any salmonella bacteria will be killed.

Salmonella is accepted to be present in chicken and the USDA will approve the bacteria existing in 7.5 percent of a plant's chicken carcasses.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are seven strains of salmonella and some are resistant to antibiotics. CDC division of foodborne diseases director Christopher Braden said the amount of people hospitalized by salmonella in the current outbreak is abnormally high at 42 percent.

"That's about twice what we would normally see for a salmonella outbreak," Braden said. "We think that's at least in part due to the fact that a number of these strains have resistance to one or more antibiotics."

According to Braden, and although the outbreak is ongoing, no deaths have been reported.