Thanks to its convenience, precooked chicken breasts have become a lunchtime (and dinnertime) staple, allowing people to add some lean protein to their meal without the hassle of cooking meat. And of all meats, chicken breasts in particular have to be carefully monitored to ensure that they reach a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, as stipulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—but not cooked for so long that they dry out.
So when Wayne Farms—a poultry producer out of Decatur, Ala.—discovered that some of their ready-to-eat chicken breasts may not have been fully cooked, the company issued a recall of 585,030 pounds of their products, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reports. Here’s what to know.
Why is the chicken being recalled?
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On April 29, Wayne Farms recalled 30,285 pounds of their ready-to-eat chicken breasts after a customer complained that their chicken appeared to be undercooked. The recall was expanded to include nearly 293 tons of precooked chicken on May 7. At this point, there have been no confirmed reports of people getting sick after eating these chicken breasts.
The recalled chicken breasts were shipped to distributors and restaurants nationwide, and retail locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
How to identify the recalled chicken breasts
If you’ve purchased Wayne Farms ready-to-eat chicken breasts in stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, check the information on the label to see if it’s part of the recall.
The recalled chicken will have:
- One of following production codes: 23618, 24357, 24512, 24583, and 24957
- One of 66 “use by” dates, ranging from May 10, 2022 through April 29, 2023
- “EST. 20214” (establishment number) on the case and packaging
- Production dates between Feb. 9 and April 30, 2022
The recalled products include:
- 9-lb. cases containing 8 packages of 6-oz “ALL NATURAL FIRE GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST” with “use by” dates ranging from 5/10/22 to 4/29/23.
- 9-lb. cases containing 12 packages of 4-oz “ALL NATURAL FIRE GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST” with “use by” dates ranging from 5/10/22 to 4/29/23.
- 6-lb. cases containing 24 individual packages of 4-oz “ALL NATURAL FIRE GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST FILLET” with “use by” date 3/5/23.
- 16-oz. zippered plastic packages containing “CHEF’S CRAFT CHICKEN BREAST FILLET” and establishment number P-20214 printed next to the 3/23/2023 best by date.
What to do if you have purchased the recalled chicken
The USDA urges people not to eat the recalled precooked chicken breasts, and instead recommends returning them to the store where they were purchased, or throwing them away.
Contact Frank Singleton, the Wayne Farms spokesman, at 678-316-4237 or fes01@att.net with questions about the recall. If you have food safety questions—either about the recall or in general—you can email MPHotline@usda.gov, call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline (888-674-6854), or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday.