Massachusetts-based Kayem Foods Inc. is recalling roughly 24,173 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken sausage products as they could be “contaminated with foreign material, specifically pieces of plastic,” the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a July 17 statement.
The items being recalled are labeled “All Natural al fresco Chicken Sausage Sweet Apple with Vermont-made syrup.” The sausages, manufactured on June 28, were wrapped up in 11-oz. vacuum-packed packages.
They have a lot code “179,” a use-by date of Oct. 1, 2025, and an establishment number “P-7839” printed on the labels. The recalled products were shipped to retail locations across the United States.
“The problem was discovered after the firm notified FSIS that it received three consumer complaints reporting white pieces of plastic in the chicken sausage products,” said the agency.
“There have been no confirmed reports of injury due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury should contact a healthcare provider.”
The FSIS stated that it was concerned some of the products may still be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers and advised people not to consume them.
The agency recommended throwing away the products or returning them to the place of purchase.
The recall has been given a “Class 1-High” designation, which is issued when there is a “health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”
Consumers with queries can contact the company at 617-889-1600.
In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, a Kayem Foods spokesperson said the issue was “isolated to one lot of product on the single Sweet Apple flavor.”
“No other Al Fresco product or flavor is affected. Kayem Foods is actively working with all retail partners and distributors to immediately remove potentially affected product from the market,” it said.
A similar recall was recently made when Danone U.S. voluntarily withdrew yogurt products sold nationwide, citing “potential presence of plastic pieces” in the container’s lids, according to a July 14 announcement published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The recall applied to all sizes and flavors of YoCrunch products for sale.
“If consumed, the plastic pieces could potentially cause a choking response,” said the announcement.
Foreign matter contamination in food items can be from other sources, such as wood or metal.
For instance, in March, Idaho Smokehouse Partners LLC withdrew some of its beef items from the market after assessing that the products could be contaminated with foreign material—“specifically metal,” according to FSIS.
“The problem was discovered after the firm notified FSIS that it received two consumer complaints reporting that pieces of metal were found in the product,” the agency said at the time.
In April, the FSIS issued a public health alert for various soup and bowl products due to concerns that they may be contaminated with wood. The products had been distributed to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.
The potential harm of ingesting foreign objects was assessed by the FDA’s Health Hazard Evaluation Board decades ago.
Between 1972 and 1997, the board analyzed roughly 190 cases of sharp or hard objects in food, some of which resulted in injuries, according to an FDA document.
The board concluded that objects which are less than 7 millimeters in size “rarely cause trauma or serious injury except in special risk groups such as infants, surgery patients, and the elderly,” said the document.
