California chicken producer Foster Farms is recalling an unspecified amount of its chicken products because the products may be contaminated with a strain of salmonella Heidelberg, according to a Department of Defense All Food and Drug Activity message sent July 9.
The U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture said Thursday it has found evidence directly linking Foster Farms boneless-skinless chicken breast to a case of Salmonella Heidelberg, an antibiotic-resistant strain of the disease that has sickened more than 500 people in the past 16 months and led to pressure from food safety advocates for federal action against the company.
As a result, Foster Farms issued a recall for 170 different chicken products that came from its Fresno facilities in March.
The Defense Commissary Agency has publicized this recall to all its stores. Whenever a commissary has a recalled or withdrawn product in its inventory, the product is immediately removed from store shelves.
"These products were produced in March," said Richard Stith, lead consumer safety officer for DeCA headquarters at Fort Lee, Va, in a news release. "Our patrons could have this product frozen in their homes. This product should not be consumed."
The Foster Farms recall affects specific chicken products sent to the following commissaries:
Alaska - Eielson Air Force Base
Arizona - Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Fort Huachuca and Luke Air Force Base
California - Beale Air Force Base, Marine Corps Training Base Camp Pendleton, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, Fort Irwin, Naval Outlying Landing Field Station Imperial Beach, Naval Air Station Lemoore, Los Angeles Air Force Base, March Air Reserve Base, McClellan, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Moffett Field, Naval Air Station North Island, Ord Community, Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme, Naval Base San Diego, Travis Air Force Base, Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Vandenberg Air Force Base
Hawaii - both commissaries at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Kaneohe Bay, Schofield Barracks,
Nevada - Naval Air Station Fallon, Nellis Air Force Base
Washington State - McChord Commissary at Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Utah - Hill Air Force Base
Far East (Pacific) - Stores in Guam, Japan and South Korea carried one of the recalled products (item 026080500000 - Bagged FF Chicken Fryer). The following stores DO NOT carry this recalled item: Camp Carroll, Hannam Village, Yongsan and K-16 in South Korea; and Camp Kure, Camp Zama, and Sagami Depot in Japan.
The products that are subject to recall have the establishment numbers P6137, P6137A or P7632 inside the USDA mark of inspections. The products were produced on March 8, 10 and 11, 2014. A list of specific products being recalled can be found at https://www.troopsupport.dla.mil/subs/fso/alfood/2014/alf03114.pdf. As of July 2, there have been 621 cases of salmonella Heidelberg infection reported.