In a news release Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced that Cargill Meat Solutions is recalling about 36 million pounds of ground turkey products due to possible contamination by a drug-resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg.
The products affected by the recall include ground turkey chubs, 85% ground turkey, and 93% ground turkey, all with use or freeze by dates of February 20 through August 23, 2011. Also subject to recall are frozen ground turkey with production dates of February 20 through August 2, 2011, and ground patties. All recalled products display the establishment number P-963 inside the USDA mark of inspection.
The recalled ground turkey products were distributed by retailers nationwide. Cargill asks consumers who may have bought the tainted products to return them to the place where the products were purchased. The FSIS has plans to post a list of retailers who sold the now recalled products on its Web site.
Wednesday’s recall comes on the heels of a public health alert issued by FSIS on July 29, 2011, over concerns about Salmonella-related illness linked to ground turkey meat. The outbreak strain of the multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg infected 79 individuals, resulting in 22 hospitalizations and one death between March 1 and August 3, 2011.
As a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, I encourage consumers who may be in possession of any of the recalled ground turkey products to stay safe and healthy by returning the products to the store where the products were purchased.