The frequency of outbreaks linked to antibiotic-resistant salmonella is rising, causing concern among consumer groups and food scientists.

They fear it will take a deadly poisoning on the scale of the 1993 E. coli outbreak from Jack in the Box​ hamburgers to force change in federal regulation.

Contaminated ground beef sold in Maine this month is the latest salmonella “superbug” to send Americans to hospitals.

The meat — which has sickened 16 people — is tainted with one of four strains of salmonella that became resistant to multiple antibiotics as they evolved to survive.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture this year to prohibit the sale of poultry or ground meat containing those four strains of salmonella; the USDA has taken the petition “under consideration.”

Learn more about the controversy over banning products with the salmonella strains and how agencies test for salmonella.

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