UPDATE: July 9, 2021:The U.S. Department of Agricultureincreased the amount of recalled chickento nearly 9 million pounds. The expanded recall involves the same product SKUs, but from a wider range of date codes, the notice said.
Dive Brief:
Tyson Foods is recalling about 8.5 million pounds of frozen, fully cooked chicken that could have been contaminated with listeria, thecompanyand theUSDAsaid in separate statements. The affected products were produced at one plant located in Dexter, Missouri,between Dec. 26, 2020, and April 13, 2021, anddistributed to foodservice and retail customers nationwide and in Puerto Rico. Walmart, Publix and Wegmans are among the retailers who sold the product,USA Today reported.
The products being recalled include pulled chicken breasts, diced chicken breasts and chicken breast strips sold underbrand namessuch as Tyson, Jet’s Pizza and Casey’s General Store. USDA investigators were first notified of two people sick with listeriosis on June 9, and later linked it toprecooked chicken produced byTyson, the government said. Investigators soon identified three listeriosis illnesses, including one death, between April 6 and June 5.
The recall,thelargest for listeria bacteria since 2016, is the latest foodborne illness outbreak in recent years. Other products impacted include ice cream, flour, lettuce and red onions.
Dive Insight:
While it is still in the early stages of the investigation, the recall involving Tyson's chicken products involve a huge quantity of meat sold at popular retailers and foodservice locations where people are at a high risk of being susceptible to listeria. In addition to big-name retailers like Walmart, the products in question also wereshipped nationwide to hospitals, nursing facilities, restaurants and schools.
In a statement, Tyson said"there is no conclusive evidence that the products were contaminated at the time of shipment" and that the recall is "being initiated out of an abundance of caution."
Listeriosis can lead to symptoms including fever, muscle aches and convulsions, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal issues. An estimated 1,600 people get listeriosis each year, and about 260 die,according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The infection is most likely to sicken pregnant women, adults aged 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems.
A CDC report releasedlast year that analyzed 2019 data compared to the period between 2016 and 2018showed foodborne pathogens were increasing across the board, and chicken and leafy greens were specifically called out as notable culprits in transmission. These two sectors were largely responsible for instances of salmonella, cyclospora and listeria infections.
It remains to be seen how the listeria case involving Tyson will compare to other recent large foodborne illness outbreaks.
Blue Bell Creameriesagreed last year to paya total of $19.35 million in criminal and civil forfeitures in connection with a 2015 listeria outbreak thatsickened 10, killed threeand resulted in all of the company's productsbeing recalled. Lettuce and other leafy greens have been hit by aseries of outbreaksthat sickened hundreds of people, andflour was recalled in 2019because it might be contaminated with salmonella.And amassive salmonella outbreakin 2020was caused by red onions — which resulted in 1,127 reported illnesses in the United States and 515 in Canada.
Federal laws like the Food Safety Modernization Act,which was signed by President Obama in 2011,requiremore comprehensive and frequent food safetytests and remediation in an effort to prevent an outbreak or contain it more quickly once it does occur.
Some companies also are investing in technology that can minimize the chance for an outbreak. Tyson Ventures, the meat company's venture capital arm,invested two years ago in Clear Labs' automated food safety platform, which can detect salmonella and E. coli in 24 hours instead of three to five days.
泰森回忆发生的肉和幼禽ry remain especially popular among consumers looking to boost their protein intake.Data sourced from the USDA and cited by the National Chicken Councilestimated Americans could consume a record 97.8 pounds of chicken per capita in 2021.
As of now, the recall shouldn't negatively impact demand for chicken or hurt Tyson, especially since the outbreak appears isolated to one plant.It also islimited to two states, which includes Texas,rather than being a widespread issue across a larger part of the U.S. But based on previous foodborne illness outbreaks, it will take several months to decipher the full extent of the Tyson recall.
