Jennie-O Turkey recalls ground turkey that might be linked to Salmonella outbreak

USDA warns that more turkey products from other brands may be recalled

Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales is recalling about 90,000 pounds of ground turkey that may be associated with Salmonella illnesses in 35 states.

The 164 people involved so far in the illnesses reported eating different turkey products and brands from many stores, and more products from other companies may be recalled, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced days ahead of Thanksgiving.

Jennie-O, of Barron, Wis., produced the recalled products on Sept. 11, 2018, and shipped them to retailers nationwide. They include:

1-lb. packages of "Jennie-O GROUND TURKEY 93% LEAN | 7% FAT" with "Use by" dates of 10/01/2018 and 10/02/2018.
1-lb. packages of "Jennie-O TACO SEASONED GROUND TURKEY" with a "Use by" date of 10/02/2018.
1-lb. packages of "Jennie-O GROUND TURKEY 85% LEAN | 15% FAT" with a "Use by" date of 10/02/2018.
1-lb. packages of "Jennie-O ITALIAN SEASONED GROUND TURKEY" with a "Use by" date of 10/02/2018.

The recalled products have establishment number P-190 inside the USDA mark of inspection.

FSIS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Arizona Department of Health Services have been conducting traceback activities for a sample of Jennie-O ground turkey in an unopened package from the home of a person who tested positive for Salmonella Reading. The sample matches the outbreak strain.

The people involved reported eating a variety of turkey products, handling raw turkey pet food and/or raw turkey, working with live turkeys or living with someone who handled live turkeys.

Jennie-O President Steve Lykken put out a statement pledging to continue to collaborate with industry peers to try to decrease Salmonella. “The turkey industry has been working together for many years to reduce Salmonella,” he says. “Despite these efforts, this particular Salmonella strain can be found in 29 different manufacturing plants from 19 different companies, according to government agencies.”

Any recalled products remaining in consumers’ freezers should be thrown away or returned to the place where purchased.

Consumers with questions can contact the Jennie-O Consumer Engagement Team at 1-800-621-3505, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. CST, Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.–5 p.m. CST, Saturday and Sunday. Jennie-O is providing more information at www.jennieo.com/content/ground-turkey-recall.

Rose Shilling is a previous managing editor of Food Engineering Magazine. She wrote feature stories on a variety of topics and tracked the food packaging industry. A journalist with an editing background at news services and newspapers, she also has driven editorial projects in health care and higher education.