Chicken sold at Costco recalled because it may contain plastic

Foster Farms is recalling roughly 148,000 pounds of fully cooked frozen chicken breast patties sold at Costco because they may contain pieces of hard and potentially sharp plastic, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Eighty-ounce bags of breaded chicken breast patties with rib meat are being recalled because they could have “hard clear pieces of plastic” in them, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Saturday.

The recalled products were shipped to Costco distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah and Washington, and may have been shipped to Costco retail locations, FSIS announced.

The recall is classified as Class I high or medium risk, which the agency terms as having “a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.” There have been no confirmed injuries, “but FSIS believes the hard plastic pieces could be sharp and possibly cause an injury,” it stated.  

FSIS urged consumers to check their freezers for the recalled product, which should be thrown out or returned to the place of purchase. Consumers with questions can call the Foster Farms hotline at 1-800-338-8051 or email [email protected].

The problem surfaced when the Livingston, California-based company notified FSIS that it had heard complaints from consumers about hard clear plastic in the poultry products with a best-by date of August 11, 2023, the agency noted. 

The affected patties were produced on August 11 and the bags containing them have the establishment number P-33901 and lot code 3*2223 on the back, and 7527899724 under the barcode. 

Of six meat or poultry recalls posted by the FSIS in October, four came as a result of “extraneous material” in the products, specifically pieces of copper wire, blue rubber and hard plastic.