OTTAWA, Ontario – Sofina Foods Inc. of Markham, Ontario, announced a recall of its Compliments brand of chicken nuggets due to the possibility of Salmonella contamination.
The same company had its Crisp and Delicious brand chicken nuggets recalled for Salmonella on Jan. 25. This latest discovery was made during a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) investigation.
As part of the investigation, Sofina Foods launched a recall of:
- Compliments Chicken Nuggets – Breaded Chicken Cutlettes– Uncooked in packages weighing 1.5 kg bearing UPC 0 55742 33690 0
CFIA said the product was sold nationally but not in Quebec.
The Public Health Agency of Canada reported that there are 59 cases of Salmonella Enteritidis in 10 provinces linked to an ongoing Salmonella outbreak in Canada that began in May 2017. No deaths or hospitalizations have occurred due to the outbreak.
For all cases of Salmonella, the health agency said that there have been 534 confirmed cases of Salmonella illness investigated across Canada since 2017. Ninety people have been hospitalized. Three people have died, however, the agency noted that Salmonella was not the cause of death for two of those individuals, and it was not determined whether Salmonella contributed to the death for the third person.
In March 2018, the CFIA announced new measures that identify Salmonella as a hazard and call for processors to implement modifications that reduce Salmonella to below a detectable amount in products such as chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, chicken strips, popcorn chicken and chicken burgers that are packaged for retail sale. CFIA granted the industry a 12-month implementation period to begin immediately.
But the persistent problem of illnesses associated with raw chicken products prompted Canada’s Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health to issue a public statement stressing the importance of proper handling of raw poultry products, including frozen raw breaded chicken.
