Almost a Half-Million Pounds of Prepared Chicken Is Being Recalled for Containing Metal Pieces

In cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Alabama poultry producer Wayne Farms has issued a voluntary recall for nearly half a million pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat, fully cooked chicken products. The products included in the recall “may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically metal pieces,” and were tk between July 4 and July 17, 2018, according to the USDA.

Wayne Farms ready-to-eat frozen chicken products being recalled include fully cooked diced chicken and fully cooked grill chicken meat. A full list can be found here. Products being recalled bear the establishment number P-20214 inside the USDA mark of inspection.

Wayne Farms received a customer complaint on July 27 and reported the issue to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The recall was issued on September 5.

Recalling processed foods due to reports of metal pieces has been an oddly common reason to callback everything from P.F. Chang’s frozen entrees to Johnsonville frozen burgers to, yes, other poultry products (in that 2015 recall, Sanderson Farms was at fault). Perhaps the most notable recent case was in 2017 when OK Food recalled nearly one million pounds of chicken, also citing metal shard contamination.

Approximately 438,960 pounds of chicken products are part of the Wayne Farms recall. The USDA says that so far, there have been no reports of injuries from the recalled products. But given that these ready-to-eat pre-cooked chicken products may still be in customers’ refrigerators and freezers, customers are urged not to cook with or eat the recalled items. Customers can either throw them away or return them to the place of purchase. Customers can reach Wayne Farms by calling (678) 450-3092.