Tyson Foods recalls chicken products over listeria contamination concerns

US-based Tyson Foods has recalled more than eight million pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken products as they could have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

According to the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the frozen, fully cooked chicken products were produced between 26 December 2020 and 13 April 2021 at Tyson Foods’ manufacturing plant in Dexter, Missouri.

Products subject to the recall bear establishment number ‘EST. P-7089’ on the packaging or inside the USDA mark of inspection.

Tyson Foods RTE chicken products were distributed to foodservice and retail customers across the US and Puerto Rico.

The issue was brought to the notice of the FSIS on 9 June 2021 after two people fell sick due to listeriosis.

After investigating along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state public health partners, FSIS found evidence connecting Listeria monocytogenes to pre-cooked chicken produced at Tyson Foods.

In its epidemiologic investigation, FSIS identified three cases of listeriosis, including one death, between 6 April 2021 and 5 June 2021.

FSIS said that it collected two pre-cooked chicken samples from two establishments that are closely related genetically to Listeria monocytogenes from ill people and one sample from Tyson Foods.

The agency said that it will continue to work with federal and state public health partners to determine if there are additional illnesses connected to these products.

Tyson Foods food safety and quality assurance senior vice-president Scott Brooks said: “We’re committed to providing safe, healthy food that people rely on every day.

“We are taking this precautionary step out of an abundance of caution and in keeping with our commitment to safety.”