Products pulled for listeria concerns
Check your freezer for fully cooked chicken products.
Tyson Foods Inc., a leading producer of poultry, is voluntarily recalling nearly 8.5 million pounds of frozen, fully cooked chicken due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced the recall Saturday evening.
The frozen product was produced at a plant in Dexter, Missouri, between Dec. 26, 2020, and April 13, 2021, and includes more than two dozen fully cooked chicken products. A variety of fully cooked chicken sold in bag sizes from 12-ounce bags of fully-cooked oven roasted diced chicken breast to 30-pound bags of fully cooked chicken fajita strips are being recalled. Products were also sold under brands such as Jet’s Pizza, Casey’s General Store, Marco’s Pizza and Little Caesars.
“We’re committed to providing safe, healthy food that people rely on every day,” Scott Brooks, senior vice president, food safety and quality assurance, Tyson Foods, said in a statement. “We are taking this precautionary step out of an abundance of caution and in keeping with our commitment to safety.”
The items were distributed nationwide and shipped to retailers and foodservice establishments and institutions including hospitals, nursing facilities, restaurants, schools and Department of Defense locations, according to a news release.
Items being recall have the establishment number “EST.P-7089 on the bag or inside the USDA mark of inspection.
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The company said no other Tyson products are impacted by the recall, including but not limited to any Tyson brand fresh chicken; frozen, raw chicken products or chicken nuggets.
Businesses should not serve or sell the recalled products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Consumers should throw the product away or return it to the store where purchased.
The inspection service was notified on June 9 of two people who became ill with listeriosis. An investigation identified three listeriosis illnesses, including one death, between April 6 and June 5. State and federal health official investigations linked evidence to the precooked chicken produced by Tyson Foods, the USDA says.
This is a Class 1 recalls meaning that the health risk is high that using the product will cause adverse health consequences or death.
Consuming food contaminated with Listeria bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can cause serious or fatal infections in children, elderly people, those with compromised immune systems, pregnant women and newborns.
Healthy individuals may experience high fever, severe headaches, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Symptoms of Listeria infection
The CDC says symptoms of Listeria infection can be different depending on the person and part of the body affected.
Healthy individuals may experience high fever, severe headaches, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Symptoms usually start one to four weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria. But they can also start as late as 10 weeks after of exposure, the CDC says.
Pregnant women
Typically, pregnant women experience only fever and other flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and muscle aches. However, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
Higher-risk other than pregnant women
Symptoms can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions in addition to fever and muscle aches.
Healthy people
People exposed to a very large dose of Listeria bacteria can develop a non-invasive illness (meaning the bacteria do not spread into their bloodstream or other sites) with diarrhea and fever.
If you have questions about the recall, call or text 1-855-382-3101. Tyson Foods said customer service representatives will be available 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. starting Sunday and through Friday.
The CDC says that about 1,600 people get listeriosis in the US every year.
Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Sue Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: 313-222-6872 or [email protected]. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
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