The USDA has finally released a list of chicken products recalled over listeria fears last week. The initial recall on October 9 only identified the name of the company that produced the chicken, BrucePac, rather than the name brands on the package, and we now know the chicken was sold at major retailers across the country, including Amazon, Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, H-E-B, Target, Walmart, and 7-11, among others.
Last Wednesday, the USDA recalled 10 million pounds of ready-to-eat chicken produced from June 19, 2024, to October 8, 2024, at an Oklahoma plant owned by BrucePac. But as we noted at the time, that chicken was sold to institutions and under different brand names at retailers, though the USDA didn’t have a list available when the recall was first announced.
The current recall list is over 300 pages long and expected to grow as the agency collects more information, according to the USDA. The list includes taco kits, sandwiches, salads, and wraps—chicken products of all kinds under a slew of different brand names across the country. Unfortunately, the recall list is a PDF which isn’t very user-friendly as a way to present information.
In an ideal world, there would be a website landing page where consumers could visit and see the list of retailer names for this particular chicken recall and then perhaps expand a list to see which products at that retailer were recalled.
The list of brand names for the chicken products includes but is not limited to, Fresh Express, Boston Market, Jenny Craig, Dole, El Monterey, Don Pancho’s, and Signature Select. The store brands for chicken items at H-E-B, Kroger, Amazon Fresh, Wegman’s, and Trader Joe’s are also impacted.
As the USDA notes in a news release, listeria is a problem because it can cause “fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.” Listeria is also a major problem for pregnant people and can cause miscarriages.
There haven’t been any illnesses reported related to this outbreak thus far, but listeria can take considerable time before people show symptoms. Boar’s Head’s meats recently saw an enormous recall over listeria that’s so far killed 10 people and hospitalized at least 59 people in 19 states. The company permanently closed one plant tied to the outbreak and Democrats have called for a criminal investigation into that listeria outbreak.
BrucePac didn’t respond to questions sent via email, both last week and on Tuesday, about what specific products consumers should look out for. The last public statement posted to the company’s website is October 11 and it reads, “Your safety is our top priority, and we are committed to food safety,” along with mostly general information.
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