Aspen Foods in Illinois has been forced to recall over two-million pounds of raw, frozen chicken products that might be contaminated with salmonella.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the recall and said in a news release on Thursday that there was in fact a link between the company’s products and three people that were infected in Minnesota with salmonella, according to Daily Mail.
Even though the products are stuffed and breaded appearing cooked, the federal agency confirms that they are raw.
Aspen Foods products are shipped nationwide and include a USDA inspection mark.
But the Department of Agriculture added that Aspen is not the only company recalling products. Barber Foods located in Maine is also recalling 1.7 million pounds of frozen products as well due to the same concerns.
The item recalled by Barber Foods, a division of Advance Pierre Foods Inc., was their Premium Entrees Breaded-Boneless Raw Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Rib Meat Kiev.
Barber’s spokesman is said to be collaborating with the USDA in order to change their production practices to reduce salmonella.
The strain of salmonella that has been infecting people, referred to as salmonella enteritidis, can cause abdominal cramps, fever and diarrhea. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns to look for the symptoms beginning 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated foods. The poisoning is known to last from four to seven days and usually requires hospitalization.
Benjamin Chapman, a food safety specialist, warned that breaded chicken is especially dangerous because some believe that the meat is already cooked and refrain from cooking it more.
“We have a responsibility to tell people that they need to cook these products properly,” he says.
Chapman added, “I don’t think we do a good job of it.”
Another common misconception about salmonella is that freezing the chicken kills it. By contrast, experts caution that it merely preserves the salmonella which causes illness as well as cross contamination.
People with the chicken in their freezers are warned not to handle it but to simply throw it out.
“I wouldn’t handle it,” says Chapman.
“Send it back, take it to the seller, or get rid of them.”
