As Canadian officials continue to investigate Salmonella infections linked to raw chicken, including frozen raw breaded chicken products, Sofina Foods Inc. is expanding its recall of such products to include another brand.

The company is now recalling certain Compliments brand frozen, breaded chicken nuggets in addition to Crisp & Delicious branded products that were recalled in January, according to a recall expansion notice posted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Sofina Foods distributed the Compliments brand chicken product, possibly nationwide, to retailers. Consumers can identify the 1.5-kilogram packages by looking for the UPC number 0 55742 33690 0 and the date code “2019 JL 18” printed on the outer package. The inner package is printed with a product code of 1998M.

In January the company recalled uncooked, breaded chicken breast nuggets packaged under the Crisp & Delicious brand. The recalled product, in 1.6-kilogram packages, has a UPC number of 0 69299 11703 5 and a date code of 2019 JL 19.  

The recalls by Sofina are among many others posted for frozen, breaded chicken products in relation to 15 detected Salmonella outbreaks since May 2017, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

“As of Febr. 27, 2019, there have been 534 laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella illness investigated as part of the illness outbreaks across the country: British Columbia (42), Alberta (83), Saskatchewan (18), Manitoba (26), Ontario (189), Quebec (111), New Brunswick (27), Nova Scotia (17), Prince Edward Island (5), Newfoundland and Labrador (12), Northwest Territories (1), Yukon (1), and Nunavut (2),” according to an update posted Wednesday by PHAC.

At least 90 patients have had symptoms so severe that they had to be admitted to hospitals. Three outbreak patients have died, but PHAC reports Salmonella was not the cause of death for two of them. As of this week it had not been determined whether Salmonella contributed to the cause of death for the third individual. Infections have occurred in Canadians of all ages and genders.

The Canadian health agency reported it currently has only one “active national Salmonella outbreak investigation.” The outbreak, linked to the Compliments brand and Crispy & Delicious brand chicken products from Sofina Foods, has sickened 59 people in 10 Canadian provinces.

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