Major Turkey Products Recall In US History

Like all meat items, turkey has been caught up in its share of urgent withdrawals. This typically centers on some form of contamination, from dangerous bacteria like salmonella and listeria to unexpected foreign entities such as plastic. The more processed the turkey — or, in other terms, the more time it minimizes in a production line — the greater the chance of contamination. On exceedingly rare occasions, such contamination can prove to have deadly outcomes. From turkey breast to prepared turkey items, here are some of the most significant recalls to affect the industry throughout the years.

Listeria is known for causing havoc within the food sector. Technically referred to as listeria monocytogenes, this bacterium can bring about an illness called listeriosis. While common symptoms include nausea, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting, it can have a more grave impact on the vulnerable, potentially leading to fatal outcomes — which is precisely why BrucePac acted so swiftly in May 2024 upon discovering that some of its ready-to-eat poultry items might have been tainted.

Having produced ready-to-eat turkey (and chicken) products for major retailers like Aldi, Walmart, Target, Trader Joe’s, and Kroger, BrucePac had to act promptly. The recall was extensive, with the exhaustive list of affected products compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) extending over 400 pages. Fewer turkey products were listed than chicken, but popular snack items such as Trader Joe’s Turkey Club Wrap and Walmart’s Marketside Cobb Salad with Turkey & Bacon were regrettably included.

Several schools also received potentially tainted products, resulting in a total of 11,765,285 pounds being recalled. Fortunately, no illnesses were reported to the USDA associated with any poultry products manufactured by BrucePac, but the potential consequences of not executing such a comprehensive recall cannot be understated.

In January 2024, Salm Partners LLC kicked off the New Year by announcing a recall of 133,039 pounds of ready-to-eat turkey kielbasa, marketed under the name Parkview Turkey Polska Kielbasa. Given that the kielbasa — a type of smoked sausage originating from Poland — was already distributed nationwide, it was a significant task. However, it was also greatly necessary, as multiple consumers had already reported that their sausages were tainted.

This time, it was not bacteria that infiltrated the turkey. Instead, it was fragments of bone — something entirely inappropriate in kielbasa, or most food items for that matter. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has stringent regulations on how much bone can remain in poultry products, only permitting particles that measure a maximum of 1.5 millimeters by 2 millimeters. According to the FSIS, one of the complaints involved a consumer who sustained a minor oral injury after biting into one of these bone fragments in their sausage. To avert a recurrence of such an incident, anyone who discovered the sausage in their kitchen was advised to return it for a refund without delay.

In April 2023, consumers who bought Jennie-O fully prepared turkey sausage patties were taken aback upon opening the packaging. They had inadvertently purchased mislabeled frozen turkey meatballs, which would not cause much of an issue unless someone had a soy allergy (or simply despised turkey meatballs).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) promptly commenced recalling the Abbyland Foods-produced meatballs. It is estimated that around 11,800 pounds of meatballs were mislabeled. This amounted to a significant quantity of undeclared soy protein concentrate. With soy being among the top eight allergens in the United States – and particularly common in children, most of whom outgrow the allergy by age 10 — the FSIS encouraged consumers to thoroughly inspect any turkey products in their households, while also alerting institutions that might have purchased the product in bulk to do the same.

Butterball ranks among the most prominent names in the turkey industry, to the extent that it even operates a helpline (the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line) during Thanksgiving to assist individuals with their turkey-related issues. Nevertheless, despite its reputation, it has encountered several tough recalls over the years.

In October 2021, Butterball had to initiate a recall of roughly 14,107 pounds of ground turkey products. Both Butterball’s all-natural ground turkey and Kroger’s ground turkey were removed from supermarket shelves after it was found that they might contain tiny fragments of blue plastic. No reports indicated that anyone had actually discovered this blue plastic in their turkey, let alone experienced any plastic-related repercussions, but in instances where foreign materials could present a safety risk, it’s always preferable to err on the side of caution.

With the recall occurring merely one month prior to Thanksgiving — which we can only presume is peak season for Butterball — it comes as no surprise that the company was also quick to emphasize that this was an isolated incident. “The health and safety of the consumers who enjoy our products is a top priority for Butterball, and we strive to ensure our product safety program fulfills or surpasses government standards,” Butterball communicated to CNN Business. “It is critical to mention that the ongoing investigation shows this does not represent a food safety issue as per FDA guidelines.”

Conagra Brands is familiar with food recalls. In the 2000s, it encountered a series of food safety crises, from being compelled to pull back 19 million pounds of ground beef tainted with E. coli to creating peanut butter associated with over 600 incidents of salmonella poisoning. A decade later, Conagra Brands engaged in yet another significant recall — this time, concerning its frozen turkey and chicken bowl products.

Approximately 276,872 pounds of these bowls were taken off the market. The cause? Rocks. Numerous customers had lodged complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) that they had discovered small rocks in their meals. Consequently, the turkey sausage and egg white scramble variety of Healthy Choice Power Bowls was removed from stores nationwide, with customers also advised by FSIS to inspect their freezers for any meals that might contain this surprising, potentially teeth-damaging addition.

Two years prior to the blue plastic incident sparking a Butterball ground turkey recall, the brand took on a far more serious issue. In March 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) disclosed that six ground turkey products manufactured by Butterball were potentially tainted with salmonella.

While three of these products were under the Butterball label, two were marketed under different brand names: Kroger and Food Lion. In total, this escalated the recall to an astounding 39 tons — or 78,164 pounds — of raw ground turkey products. The FSIS noted that a portion of this amount had been allocated to food banks in Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts.

The recall was quite urgent, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection had already correlated the products with an outbreak of salmonellosis (the illness caused by salmonella bacteria) impacting five individuals across two states. Like listeria, salmonella mainly leads to symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever, but it can also result in more severe illness in susceptible populations and, according to the CDC, leads to roughly 420 fatalities in the U.S. each year.

A salmonella outbreak emerged in 2018, which was swiftly linked back to Jennie-O ground turkey. The company recalled 164,210 pounds of raw ground turkey products, with all but one (Stater Bros ground turkey) sold under the Jennie-O brand.

By the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development had established a clear connection between the outbreak and Jennie-O products, the outbreak was already in full effect. Ultimately, 216 individuals were afflicted with salmonellosis across 38 states. In fact, it is believed that the outbreak actually began back in November 2017, with 22 cases also documented in Canada.

Steve Lykken, then-president of Jennie-O Turkey Store, asserted that the company had implemented operational adjustments over the years to minimize the risk of salmonella. For instance, they had commenced vaccinating turkeys to safeguard them from the bacteria. However, he also maintained that it was a concern industry-wide. “We recognize the issue of salmonella isn’t confined to us,” he stated (via CNN)

Numerous meat recalls have impacted Publix in the past, including a widespread turkey recall in October 2017. This time, it specifically concerned ground turkey. A Publix employee noticed that some packages appeared to contain metal fragments and alerted the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), initiating a recall that ultimately affected four items produced by Prestage Foods: two types of Publix ground turkey and one each from Fit & Active and Weis Markets.

About 38,475 pounds of meat were removed from the shelves across nine different states. While a clear explanation regarding how the metal ended up in the turkey was never disclosed, Prestage Foods contacted the USDA in September to inform them that some form of contamination likely occurred during the sanitation process of processing equipment at their facility. Fortunately, due to the swift action (and the vigilant Publix employee), no injuries were reported as a result of the contaminated ground turkey. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service still classified the recall as Class II, cautioning that it represented “a health hazard situation where there is a remote probability of adverse health consequences from the consumption of the product.”

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