Foster Farms is recalling more than 220,000 pounds of its cooked frozen chicken nuggets distributed throughout the Western United States.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the chicken “may be contaminated with extraneous blue plastic and black rubber materials.”
The products subject to recall include:
• 5-pound bags of Foster Farms’ “Breast Nuggets — Nugget Shaped Breaded Chicken Breast Patties with Rib Meat.” The bags exhibit “best by” dates of February 21, 2017, and March 8, 2017. • 10-pound bulk boxes of Foster Farms’ “Breast Nuggets — Nugget Shaped Breaded Chicken Breast Patties with Rib Meat.” The boxes contain package codes 6053 and 6068.
According to Foster Farms, the affected 5-pound bags were sold at Costco locations in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington. The 10-pound bags were sold to nonretail wholesale distributors in California and Arizona.
Foster Farms said the problem was discovered after customer complaints, and it notified the USDA on Friday.
In a statement, Foster Farms said, “Food safety is, and has always been, our top priority and we are vigilant in employing the most up-to-date safety measures to produce wholesome, healthy and delicious food products. Foster Farms has formed a Food Safety Advisory Board comprised of leading national food safety experts to validate best practices, evaluate emerging technologies and to help guide the company’s food safety systems on an ongoing basis.”
According to the USDA, there has been no illness linked to the recalled product. Customers who purchased it are urged to throw it away or return it to their place of purchase.
Consumers concerned about the product can call the company’s consumer affairs hotline at 800-338-8051 or the USDA’s meat and poultry hotline at 888-674-6854. The USDA’s Ask Karen, a virtual representative, is also available to answer food safety questions 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov.
The recall is the second one in a matter of days involving chicken products. On Tuesday, the USDA issued another recall notice for Pilgrim’s Pride chicken products that had been found to contain extra pieces of plastic, wood, rubber and metal.