WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Tip Top Poultry Inc. issued a recall for an undetermined amount of ready-to-eat or RTE poultry products as they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially deadly bacteria.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service or FSIS said the frozen cooked, diced or shredded, RTE chicken products were produced between January 21 and September 24, 2019. The products were shipped to institutions nationwide in the U.S. and Canada.
While there have been no adverse reports persons concerned about an injury or illness are advised to contact a healthcare provider.
The problem was discovered after Tip Top Poultry notified the FSIS that Listeria monocytogenes were found in multiple samples of the product tested in Canada. Tip Top Poultry decided to recall all cooked, diced or shredded, RTE chicken products produced from January 21 through September 24, 2019.
The Rockmart, Georgia-based company expanded the dates and the scope of the recall out of an abundance of caution.
The FSIS said it is concerned that some products may be in the freezers of institutions that purchased these products. The agency advised these institutions to either throw away these products or return them to the place of purchase.
Fisher Packing Co., a Redkey, Indiana-based company, has also recalled about 744 pounds or RTE pork products on Saturday due to potential Listeria contamination. The products were packaged on August 27, 2019.
Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
In March, Tip Top Poultry recalled about 100 pounds of frozen, fully cooked diced white chicken meat products due to presence of soy, a known allergen, which was not declared on the product label.
The products were labeled as fully cooked diced white chicken meat products but contained fully cooked grilled chicken breast strips products. However, there were no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
