As of June 7th, Pennsylvanian-based food company, Tyson Foods, Inc., has had to recall 190,000 pounds of chicken that was shipped out to 29 different states across the country.
A recent article by CNN explains that three separate schools in America found hard plastic in their school lunch meals, each coming from Tyson Foods’ Chicken Fritters. These packages of chicken, labeled as “Fully Cooked, Whole Grain, Golden Crispy Chicken Chunk Fritters – CN” come in packages of 4 individual 8.2 pound packs.
Speech Communications, B.A. from Whitworth University
There have not yet been any reported injuries, sicknesses, or related health issues in direct link to these packages of chicken, but the three individual school reports were enough to cause a total recall of all 190,000 pounds of food across the country. Of the 29 states that the shipments went out to, some of these include: California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Fortunately, this Tyson Foods, Inc. product is not sold in retail stores and thus the recall is only taking back shipments sent out to specific food service customers. However, the USDA has marked this issue as a “high level” health risk due to the “foreign matter contamination” supposedly in the products. Furthermore, they have classified the recall as a Class 1 issue. According to the USDA,“This [Class 1] is a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death”. The list of Recall Classes Classifications extends to Class 2 and Class 3, with Class 3 being “[…] a situation where the use of the product will not cause adverse health consequences.”
Hard Plastic Found in Tyson Foods: No Injuries Reported
Although this specific product was able to be recalled before anybody was seriously injured or fell ill, food contamination, whether that be physical, biological or chemical, is still prevalent across the country and is not always caught early. According to HealthyChildren.org, ways to prevent food contamination or food-borne illness include: cleanliness, food selection, and food preparation. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that you always wash your hands before and after handling raw meat, rinsing the raw meat before use and washing down every surface and kitchen appliance that touched the raw meat (counter-tops, knives, cutting boards etc…) thoroughly with warm, soapy water before continuing to cook. In addition, the AAP highly recommend that you buy from reputable sources, check the labeling for important usage dates, and to continue cooking the meat until the meal is completed (don’t let the meat sit out all day).
For further information on the Hard Plastic Found in Tyson Foods, the Tyson Foods, Inc. recall, or on how to best prevent infection, illness, or injury from packaged meats, a list of resources is provided below.
- https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/10/health/tyson-recall-chicken-fritters-bn-trnd/index.html
- https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2019/recall-066-2019-release
- https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/abdominal/Pages/Food-Poisoning-and-Food-Contamination.aspx
