Food Safety

Metal found in chicken causes recall of more than 2 million pounds

Simmons poultry went to institutional locations in 8 states

Simmons Prepared Foods Inc. recalled about 2 million pounds of chicken that may be contaminated with metal, the USDA announced.

The ready-to-cook whole chickens, whole legs, breasts, wings and tenderloins were produced from Oct. 21 through Nov. 4. The items were shipped to institutions in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

Simmons Prepared Foods establishments discovered the problem during further processing.

The recalled products have one of these establishment numbers in the USDA mark of inspection: P-1949, P-486 or P-5837.

There were no confirmed reports of adverse reactions from eating the chicken at the time of the announcement.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says it’s concerned that some of the chicken may be in institutional freezers. The locations should throw away the products or return them to the seller.

People with recall questions may contact Donald Miller, senior vice president of sales at Simmons Prepared Foods, at 888-831-7007.

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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.