Oct. 31 (UPI) — Almost 150,000 pounds of fully-cooked frozen chicken is being recalled from Costco store shelves because it may contain plastic.
The 148,000 pounds of Foster Farms chicken “may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically hard clear pieces of plastic,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed in a notice.
The recall notice applies to 80-ounce plastic bag packages containing 20 pieces of breaded chicken breast patties. They were produced on Aug. 11.
The products were shipped to Costco distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, and Washington, but may have been further distributed to the company’s retail locations, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said.
The FSIS is concerned the affected bags may be in the freezers of some consumers. They have a best before date of Aug. 11, 2023 and come with the product number “P-33901” and lot code “3*2223**”.
“The problem was discovered when the firm notified FSIS that it received consumer complaints reporting hard clear plastic embedded in fully cooked, frozen, breaded chicken breast patty products,” the agency said in the statement.
There have been no confirmed reports of injury associated with the products so far, “but FSIS believes the hard plastic pieces could be sharp and possibly cause an injury. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.”
The recall comes with a “Class 1” hazard warning, meaning “there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death,” according to FSIS.
Affected products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
