Five consumer complaints of metal bits being found in the meat products of Oklahoma-based food company OK Foods, Inc. has sparked a massive product recall of almost a million pounds of chicken meat. Apart from the consumer complaints, the contamination was also noted by USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) during an inspection of the products.
Metal Contamination
In a post by FSIS, some of the products of OK Foods, Inc. being sold in the market have been found to have extraneous materials, specifically metal. Though no report has been made of any adverse effects from the contamination, OK Foods, Inc. still opted to just recall the products. In an investigation that the company made, it was found that the metal contamination likely originated from a specific conveyor belt in their processing plant.
The contaminated products were mostly a part of their line of ready-to-eat breaded meats that were processed between the dates of Dec. 19, 2016 and March 7, 2017. The FSIS posted a list of the contaminated products on their website and advise consumers who have already bought the items to either throw it away or return the items to their place of purchase.
Any consumer questions about the recall could be raised to the FSIS by calling Abby Brown at (479) 312-2409.
Recent Food Recalls And Food Safety
OK Foods, Inc.'s recall of their breaded meat products is not the first food recall of late. In fact, this month alone recorded a number of food recalls from the simple solid material contamination to serious listeria outbreak.
Just before February ended, Trader Joe's voluntarily recalled their All Natural Unsweetened Apple Sauce products from the shelves when they were found to potentially have glass pieces inside while I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter recalled batches of their product after an E. coli contamination placed six of the 12 infected consumers were hospitalized.
Further in the month, two individuals fell critically ill after ingesting toxic tea in San Francisco while a listeria outbreak caused many food product recalls from cheese to frozen pizza.
What's worrying about this recent food recall isn't just the fact that a popular meat product had been contaminated with bits of metal, but also the fact that it was only the next item in the line of contaminated products. The question, perhaps, to be answered is not just how these specific products were contaminated, but also whether food safety is still seriously taken in the food industry.
