Supermarket chain Giant Food of Maryland issued a recall of Koch Oven Cravers frozen, raw, stuffed, and breaded chicken products manufactured by Chicago-based Aspen Foods. Consumers are being informed that Giant is pulling these products off store shelves because the chicken products may be contaminated with salmonella, Meat & Poultry (meatpoultry.com) reports.The recalled products include […]
Koch Oven Cravers Fresh & Frozen Chicken Products Recalled
Supermarket chain Giant Food of Maryland issued a recall of Koch Oven Cravers frozen, raw, stuffed, and breaded chicken products manufactured by Chicago-based Aspen Foods.
Consumers are being informed that Giant is pulling these products off store shelves because the chicken products may be contaminated with salmonella, Meat & Poultry (meatpoultry.com) reports.The recalled products include Koch Oven Cravers Broccoli & Cheese (10 oz.), UPC 4542145512, all code dates; Koch Oven Cravers Chicken Parmesan (10 oz.), UPC 4542153140, all code dates; Koch Oven Cravers Cordon Bleu (10 oz.), UPC 4542141512, all code dates.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) alert included products bearing EST # P-1358 and best by dates between Oct. 29, 2016, and Dec. 16, 2016. However, Giant is pulling all code dates for the products “out of an abundance of caution,” according to Meat & Poultry. Giant advises customers who bought any of the recalled chicken products to discard them and bring the receipt to Giant for a full refund.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert on September 18 warning consumers that frozen stuffed chicken products manufactured by Aspen Foods may be contaminated by Salmonella enteritidis.
In July, Koch’s frozen, raw, stuffed, and breaded chicken products were recalled after the products were linked to a cluster of illnesses in Minnesota. The July recall included 1,978,680 lbs. of the various chicken products, Meat & Poultry reports. FSIS intensified its sampling efforts at Aspen Foods following the outbreak. The agency said 12 samples tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella enteritidis. Aspen Foods declined to recall the products, which prompted FSIS to issue the public health alert. FSIS said it “cannot have confidence in the safety of any products produced after July 30, 2015.” FSIS personnel were directed “to detain products covered by this alert that they find in commerce because the company has refused to recall the products,” Meat & Poultry reports.
Salmonella infection usually emerges 12 to 72 hours after the individual has eaten tainted food, causing diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the illness typically lasts four to seven days. Most people recover without treatment, but for some, the illness can be serious enough to require hospitalization. The infection can spread from the intestines to the blood stream and other parts of the body, requiring treatment with antibiotics. Children under five, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems are at greatest risk for serious salmonella infection.
According to Food and Drug Administration calculations, 48 million people—one in six Americans—suffer from foodborne illnesses annually. These illnesses—which the CDC says are largely preventable—result in more than 100,000 hospitalizations. About 3,000 die from infections, the CDC reports.
