Recalls for 12 kinds of ReadyMeals and store-made deli items have been initiated over fears of a possible listeria contamination from a recalled chicken ingredient.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the recall on Saturday, specifying that the recall was initiated because these products contain a recalled ready-to-eat chicken ingredient which was found to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria during routine tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Albertsons Companies voluntary recalled the products on October 11 and the chicken ingredient was supplied by BrucePac of Durant, Oklahoma.
The products affected were sold at Albertsons, Carrs-Safeway, Eagle, Jewel-Osco, Pavillions, Randalls, Safeway, Shaw’s Star Market, Tom Thumb, and Vons.
The states potentially affected were Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Iowa, Indiana, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wyoming, and Washington.
The full list of recalled products are as follows:
- READY MEALS STREET TACOS CHICKEN SS COLD (UPC: 27131600000)
- READY MEALS STREET TACO MEAL CKN ASADA SS COLD (UPC: 29939100000)
- READY MEALS ENCHILADA CHICKEN GREEN CHILI SS COLD (UPC: 21291600000)
- READY MEALS STREET TACO MEAL CHICKEN SM SS COLD (UPC: 27179600000)
- ENCHILADA CHICKEN GREEN 6CT SS COLD (UPC: 27163500000)
- SALAD GINGER CHICKEN BROCCOLI FS (UPC: 27110800000)
- READY MEALS SALAD GINGER CHICKEN BROCCOLI SS (UPC: 29105700000)
- SALAD CHICKEN GINGER BROCCOLI FS (UPC: 29233600000)
- SALAS CAESAR CHICKEN FS (UPC: 29130700000)
- BOWL CAESAR CHICKEN (UPC: 29125500000)
- READY MEALS SALAD CAESAR CHICKEN SS (UPC: 21139700000)
- READY MEALS ASIAN STIR FRY SS COLD (UPC: 21296500000)
The affected sell-thru dates are up to and including October 13, 2024, except for products 11, 10, and nine on the above list, which are up to and including October 11.
The FDA has urged consumers who have purchased these items not to consume them, and to either dispose of the product or return it to the point of purchase for a full refund.
Newsweek has contacted Albertsons Companies for comment via email on Sunday, outside of standard working hours.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The FDA warns that Listeria monocytogenesis is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems.
While symptoms in healthy individuals may only be short-term, such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
On Friday, the FDA also classified a recall of ice cream sold by Today’s Frozen Desserts, Inc., Miami, as a Class II, after it was discovered to contain undeclared food colorings Yellow 5 (Tartrazine) and Yellow 6 (Sunset Yellow FCF).
This class of recall is issued when a product may cause a temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequence or where the probability of serious health consequences is remote.
The FDA has also classified the recall of a potato salad product produced by Lemonland Food Corp as a Class I incident, the highest risk category issued in “a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”
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