Tyson Foods has voluntarily recalled 5-pound bags of its Fully Cooked Panko Chicken Nuggets, as well as 20-pound cases of Spare Time cooked nugget-shaped chicken breast patty fritters with rib meat.
In a recall notice released on Sept. 27, the company cited the presence of small pieces of hard, white plastic in the nuggets as the reason for the move. Additionally, the affected Panko Chicken Nuggets were sold only at Costco locations across the U.S., while the recalled Spare Time product was sold at one wholesaler in Pennsylvania. Smaller packages of the same product or those sold at other retailers are unaffected by the recall.
The recall was initiated after a small number of consumers got in touch with the company after finding the pieces of plastic in their nuggets. No injuries have been reported because of the affected products, but Tyson still recalled the chicken nuggets and chicken breast patty fritters out of an abundance of caution.
Affected Tyson Fully Cooked Panko Chicken Nuggets were distributed to Costco locations starting July, and have a "Best If Used By" date of July 18, 2017. They will also bear the establishment number "P-13556" beside the "Best If Used By" date printed at the back of a bag.
The Spare Time patties included in the recall also have a "Best If Used By" date set for July 18, 2017.
Those who have purchased the affected products are advised to throw away the chicken nuggets and patties they bought, cut out the UPC and date code on the packs and mail the codes to Tyson Foods to get a full refund.
The UPC code for affected Panko Chicken Nuggets is "0-237000-3558-5."
Tyson Foods said it has inspected its production facility to guarantee quality standards are being met, implementing corrective measures to ensure that similar occurrences are avoided in the future.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the plastic contamination may have originated from a round, hard plastic rod that was used to connect a plastic transfer belt. As Tyson Foods uses a metal detector to check its products, it was unable to detect the presence of plastic in the affected Panko Chicken Nuggets and Spare Time patties.
Earlier in September, Entenmann's Little Bites was also the subject of a recall after it was discovered that small pieces of plastic were found in some of the brand's fudge brownies and chocolate chip muffins, which posed choking and/or cutting hazard to consumers.
No injuries either were reported either due to Entenmann's Little Bites recall.
