Shoppers react after 10 million pounds of meat recalled due to listeria contamination
PHILADELPHIA - Nearly 10 million pounds of pre-cooked chicken is being pulled from store shelves after the threat of listeria contamination. Customers who have any of the products are told to throw them away or return the item for a refund.
The USDA released a 326-page document of all the products that may contain contaminated meat sold in some of the nation's biggest stores.
Popular items like fettuccine alfredo from Walmart, chicken salad from Trader Joe’s, chipotle chicken bowls from Target, are just a fraction of the items being recalled.
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Consumers who bought refrigerated or frozen meat products from Trader Joe's, Costco, Target and more are urged to check the USDA's website concerning a massive chicken recall by BrucePac.
"This is a big recall and people may have it (meat) laying around. Maybe they ate it within the last day or so. If they did, you watch them and make sure they are not developing fever, diarrhea, nausea." said Dr. Mike Cirigliano of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
BrucePac, the Oregon based meat and poultry processor, initiated the recall.
It includes hundreds of pre-made chicken products sold at stores like Walmart, Trader Joes, 7-Eleven, Aldi and Target.
It’s the same recall that forced Philadelphia Public Schools to warn students about possible illness last week.
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The district released a letter Friday alerting families that the recall of certain chicken products served to students were subject to a nationwide recall because of a potential listeria contamination.
The recall began after testers working under the United States Department of Agriculture found that a product with BrucePac ready-to-eat chicken tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria that causes listeria.
The products subject to recall bear establishment numbers "51205 or P-51205" inside or under the USDA mark of inspection.
Listeria infection can be deadly for older Americans, pregnant women and consumers with weakened immune systems. Sufferers may experience symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the USDA.
"Not a good feeling" said one shopper at the Target store in South Philadelphia.
Leary shoppers are being told some of the affected products may still remain on store shelves. A list of products under the recall could be found here.
"It makes me concerned. I feel like the things I buy on the shelf should be safe and tested before I eat it." said Sabrina Rivera of South Philadelphia.
"Seeing things in the refrigerators that I don’t really know, like my grandparents could be eating and I don’t know. so I really does cause like a big problem" added shopper Emenu China from South Philadelphia.
Although no deaths or illnesses have been linked to the recall the elderly and immunocompromised could be most at risk.
Dr. Cirigliano says prevention of foodborne illnesses starts way down the food chain.
"What we need to do is to get better control and better regulations involved in production of food, so this sort of thing doesn’t happen," said Dr. Cirigliano.
If you have any of the recalled products, you can take it back to the store where it was purchased for a refund.
Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov.
For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.