Tyson recalling nearly 2.5 million pounds of chicken products

Food coating has unmarked allergen, milk, company says

Tyson Foods Inc. is voluntarily recalling nearly 2.5 million pounds of chicken products that potentially contain traces of a food allergen unmarked in the packaging.

Tyson is one of nine food companies to announce a misbranding and undeclared allergen recall between Thursday and Saturday, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Safety inspection Service.

The nation's largest meat company announced the recall after reports that the New Holland, Pa., plant used bread crumbs that contained milk in 82,760 cases of ready-to-eat chicken products, but the products had no allergen warning for consumers.

No allergy-related reports of illnesses or injuries have been confirmed by either Tyson or the USDA.

According to the USDA, an ingredient supplier notified Tyson on June 6 that the bread crumbs the company received and used in production between Aug. 17 and Jan. 14 potentially had undeclared traces of milk.

Tyson declined comment when asked to identify the ingredient supplier.

The products recalled were limited to mainly schools and restaurants and not available for purchase in retail stores.

Tyson spokesman Caroline Ahn said in a news release that "it is unlikely that this product is currently in distribution."

"Tyson has identified and is working with affected food service customers to retrieve and/or remove all recalled products shipped to 30 states," according to Tyson.

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The recall did not place a significant financial burden on Tyson, Ahn said in an email.

Springdale-based Tyson and eight other food companies announced recalls totalling 3.8 million pounds of products related to undeclared milk allergens and misbranding in supplied breading or cracker meal. All of the affected facilities are located in the northeastern U.S.

Saturday, Packer Avenue Foods Inc.'s Philadelphia plant had to recall 9,690 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken salad products because of cracker meal that potentially contained undeclared milk.

Friday, Conagra Brands Inc.'s Milton, Pa., facility recalled 700,125 pounds of spaghetti and meatball products; Gourmet Boutique LLC's Jamaica, N.Y., plant recalled 294,744 pounds of ready-to-eat breaded chicken products; AdvancePierre Foods Inc.'s Portland, Maine, plant recalled 54,699 pounds of chicken tenders and raw breaded dark meat chicken; and Pork King Sausage Inc. in New York City announced the recall of 44,035 pounds of raw sausage link products.

Last Thursday, three Pennsylvania-based companies announced similar recalls. Maid-Rite Specialty Foods LLC is recalling 174,000 pounds of raw and ready-to-eat beef products; Aldon Foods Corp. is recalling 18,570 pounds of chicken salad products; and Water Lilies Food Inc. is recalling 4,335 pounds of ready-to-eat breaded spicy chicken tenders.

The USDA classified each situation as a Class 1 recall, which indicates a high probability that the product could cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.

The last recall Tyson announced was in September, when it responded to reports that chicken nuggets produced from its Sedalia, Mo., location contained pieces of hard plastic. Tyson announced it would recall about 132,000 pounds of fully-cooked chicken nugget products after receiving consumer complaints. The 5-pound bags were shipped to retail locations nationally, and the 20-pound cases were shipped for institutional use in Pennsylvania.

Ken Shea, senior analyst of food and beverages at Bloomberg, said Tyson is making the right moves to counter any potential damages.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, if an establishment is undergoing a Class 1 or significant Class 2 recall and active steps aren't being taken already, then the company will submit to a full FDA inspection to discover the root cause of the problems.

Since news broke, Tyson has been upfront about its actions, Shea said.

"No one was hurt, they've publicly stated what's going on, they have it in place, the stock is up -- all points that they've been upfront about this," he said. "Tyson has strong relations. It's going to make sure it's ahead of the game here."

Shea said it's too early to tell what's next for the ingredients suppliers that forced recalls from eight other food companies.

"Tyson probably will seek some sort of remedies from them," Shea said.

Business on 06/13/2017

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