Sixteen days after public health officials in Canada revealed they have been investigating a Salmonella outbreak linked to frozen, raw chicken products the country’s food safety agency posted a recall of President’s Choice brand chicken nuggets.
The Public Health Agency of Canada posted its outbreak notice on June 26 warning consumers about the dangers of undercooked chicken and reporting for the first time a Salmonella outbreak that sickened people in at least four provinces in April and May.
Wednesday the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which had previously refused to name the implicated products, posted a recall notice stating Loblaw Companies Ltd. is pulling its President’s Choice “Pub Recipe Chicken Nuggets” from stores nationwide because of possible Salmonella contamination.
Consumers can identify the 800-gram packs of “uncooked breaded cutlettes” by looking for the following label information:
- UPC number 0 60383 13171 5
- Date code “2018 MR 15”
Officials are concerned consumers may have unused portions of the frozen, raw chicken nuggets in their homes because of the product’s long shelf life.
“Check to see if you have recalled products in your home. Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the store where they were purchased,” according to the CFIA recall notice.
“Food contaminated with Salmonella may not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick. Young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems may contract serious and sometimes deadly infections. Healthy people may experience short-term symptoms such as fever, headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Long-term complications may include severe arthritis.”
The CFIA reported its investigation is ongoing, adding that additional products could be recalled. As of Wednesday night, neither the Public Health Agency of Canada nor the country’s federal health department Canada Health had posted an update on the outbreak.
In the June 26 outbreak notice the government reported there were at least seven confirmed cases of Salmonella infections at that point. Alberta had four confirmed cases while one case had been confirmed in each of British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick.
No deaths have been reported, but two of the seven outbreak victims were so sick they required hospitalization.
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