Tyson Foods voluntarily expands chicken strips recall

Tyson Foods Inc. has voluntarily expanded a recall originally issued Mar. 21 of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strips made between Oct. 1, 2018, and March 21. The products were produced at one plant location. Each package bears the establishment code P-7221 and a “use by” date range from Oct. 1, 2019, to March 7, 2020.

The impacted products were sold by retailers and foodservice wholesalers and distributed nationwide as Tyson Foods-branded products as well as private brands sold to Costco, Ahold, Food Lion, Hannaford, Meijer and Publix. Other private brands impacted include Great Value, Choice, Giant Eagle and Sparetime. The complete listing of the products can be found at this link.

The recall centers on metal fragments which were found in a small number of products. Tyson Foods officials said it is expanding the recall in the interest of public health even though the vast majority of the products have already been consumed without any reported incidents. The latest recall is for approximately 11.8 million pounds of frozen chicken strips, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Consumers expect that the food they eat is safe. In their best interest and in an abundance of caution we’re taking quick and decisive action to expand this recall,” said Barbara Masters, vice president of regulatory food policy, food and agriculture for Tyson Foods. “Our company is taking corrective action at the location that makes these products. We have discontinued use of the specific equipment believed to be associated with the metal fragments, and we will be installing metal-detecting X-ray machinery to replace the plant’s existing metal-detection system. We will also be using a third-party video auditing system for metal-detection verification.”

Masters said safety remains at the core of Tyson Foods’ operations and “it is unacceptable that any Tyson product might not meet company standards. Tyson decided to take this precautionary step to make sure that it meets customer expectations as well as its own,” Masters said.