The 7 million-pound recall of meat and poultry products from BrucePac has been expanded to include almost 2 million more pounds of products, some of which were sent to schools. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is reporting that the recall of an additional 1.77 million pounds of products is part of continuing efforts to gather distribution information.
The recall, which now includes 11.76 million pounds of products, was initiated because of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. As of the posting of the recall notice there had not been any confirmed illnesses reported.
However, it can take up to 70 days after consumption of tainted food for symptoms of Listeria infection to develop. “The problem was discovered after FSIS performed routine product testing of finished product containing RTE poultry products produced by BrucePac (of Durant, OK) and confirmed those products positive for Listeria monocytogenes. Subsequent FSIS investigation identified BrucePac RTE chicken as the source of the Listeria monocytogenes,” according to the recall notice.
“FSIS wants to make sure consumers are aware that some of the recalled products could bear a different establishment number on the label due to further distribution and processing by other establishments. Consumers are urged to carefully review the information, including the product and label information , included in the BrucePac Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry Recall Press Release .” The ready-to-eat (RT.