WASHINGTON – Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. expanded a recall of chicken products to include an additional 376,380 lbs. of fully-cooked products that may have been contaminated with extraneous metal pieces, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the US Dept. of Agriculture reported. This is the third expansion of a recall first launched on April 7.
The initial recall included chicken nuggets. The expanded recall includes a variety of chicken products that were produced on July 11, 2015, and Sept. 16, 2015. Affected items include:
- 25-lb. boxes containing 3 – 8.33-lb. clear bags in a box of “Pierce Chicken/ Wing Zings Fully Cooked Hot and Spicy Breaded Chicken Wings 1st and 2nd Sections” with use by/sell by date of 09/15/2016 and a packaging date of 09/15/2015;
- 15-lb. boxes containing 2 – 7.5-lb. clear bags in a box of “Pierce Chicken/ Wing Zings Fully Cooked Hot and Spicy Breaded Chicken Wings” with a use by/sell by date of 07/11/2016 and a packaging date of 07/11/2015;
- 15-lb. boxes containing 2 – 7.5-lb. clear bags in a box of “Pierce Chicken/ Wing Zings Fully Cooked Hot And Spicy Breaded Chicken Wings” with a use by/sell by date of 09/16/2016 and a packaging date of 9/16/2015;
- 10-lb. boxes containing 2 – 5-lb. clear bags in a box of “Sweet Georgia Brand Fully Cooked Hot and Spicy Breaded Chicken Wings” with a use by/sell by date of 07/11/2016 and a packaging date of 07/11/2015;
- 10-lb. boxes containing 2 – 5-lb. clear bags in a box of “Sweet Georgia Brand Fully Cooked Hot and Spicy Breaded Chicken Wings 1st and 2nd Sections” with a use by/sell by date of 09/15/2016 and a packaging date of 09/15/2015;
- 25-lb. boxes containing 3 – 8.33-lb. clear bags in a box of “Pierce Chicken/ Wing Zings Fully Cooked Hot and Spicy Chicken Wings 1st and 2nd Sections” with use by/sell by date of 09/15/2016 and a packaging date of 09/15/2015.
Consumers alerted Pilgrim’s to the problem, FSIS said. The company notified FSIS personnel after receiving several consumer complaints regarding plastic contamination of chicken nuggets. FSIS personnel identified more affected product types and dates of production after investigating additional consumer complaints of foreign material contamination received by the company.
The first recall on April 7 included 40,780 lbs. of fully cooked chicken nugget products. The recall expansion on April 26 affected an additional 4,524,980 lbs. of fully cooked chicken product. The second recall expansion on May 6 recalled an additional 608,764 lbs. of product. FSIS said the combined number of recalled product from April 7 to May 13 is 5,550,904 lbs.
