Oct. 16 (UPI) — Nearly 12 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products, sold at stores including Trader Joe’s, Amazon, Walmart, Target — and served at restaurants and schools — are being recalled over listeria fears.
BrucePac, which produces its pre-cooked meat in Durant, Okla., released additional information Tuesday about the massive recall and increased the number of items being pulled from shelves after the recall was first revealed by the Department of Agriculture on Oct. 9.
“Details of this release were updated to note the addition of 1,779,040 pounds of product subject to recall, increasing the weight from 9,986,245 to 11,765,285 pounds,” BrucePac wrote Tuesday in an update.
BrucePac also revealed “that previously recalled products were distributed to schools.” The meat producer said it did not have a school list “at this time.”
“We are committed to providing safe, high-quality products,” BrucePac wrote on its website. “We are working closely with USDA to ensure that all necessary actions are taken to ensure a safe food supply.”
While there have been no confirmed reports of illness related to the meat products, BrucePac has shut down operations.
“After learning that ready-to-eat chicken tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, we stopped production and immediately recalled all products that may have been affected,” BrucePac said in a statement. “We will not resume production until we are confident the issue has been resolved.”
The list of items impacted by the recall include pre-made salads, frozen foods, burritos containing chicken and other meats, including bacon and ham, which were produced between May 31 and Oct. 8, according to the USDA.
“The products subject to recall bear establishment numbers ‘51205 or P-51205’ inside or under the USDA mark of inspection,” BrucePac said.
While some of the products’ expiration dates have passed, frozen food brands — including Michelina’s and Jenny Craig — have longer shelf-life until 2025 and 2026.
“The problem was discovered after the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service performed routine product testing of finished product containing RTE poultry products produced by BrucePac and confirmed those products positive for Listeria monocytogenes. Subsequent FSIS investigation identified BrucePac RTE chicken as the source of the Listeria monocytogenes,” the company said.
Listeria is the third-leading cause of food poisoning deaths in the United States. Symptoms typically appear about two weeks after the contaminated food is consumed and include fever, aches, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions, diarrhea or vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pregnant women, newborn babies, older adults and those with weakened immune systems can experience life-threatening infections with listeria.
The BrucePac meat recall includes more than 200 ready-to-eat chicken and turkey products, sold at Trader Joes, Walmart, Aldi, Target, HEB, Giant Eagle and Kroger. The brands include Jenny Craig, Atkins, Signature Select, Boston Market, Amazon Fresh, Michelina’s, Rao’s and Dole. Photos of all items that have been recalled can be found on the Agriculture Department’s product list website.
At least 10 deaths were linked to a listeria outbreak in July and led to Boar’s Head recalling more than 7 million pounds of deli meat.
