Regulators Update Product List Associated With Massive Meat and Poultry Recall

WASHINGTON — The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has updated the list of products associated with the recall of nearly 10 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry announced last week.

BrucePac, of Woodburn, Oregon, announced the recall of nearly 5,000 tons of ready-to-eat foods on Oct. 9, after FSIS officials detected listeria in samples of poultry during routine testing. Further tests identified BrucePac chicken as the source. 

The recall initially included 75 meat and chicken products produced at a BrucePac facility in Durant, Oklahoma, between June 19 and Oct. 8, and shipped to restaurants, food service vendors and other sites nationwide.

The products subject to recall bear establishment numbers “51205 or P-51205” inside or under the USDA mark of inspection.

But the agency has been reminding consumers that some of the recalled products could bear a different labeling and establishment numbers due to further distribution and processing by downstream entities that received them.

The latest list of labels, totalling some 326 pages, can be found here.

Officials are encouraging consumers to check back with the agency’s website frequently as additional products could be added.

All of the affected products have a best-by date of June 19, 2025 to Oct. 8, 2025, and government officials are concerned that the foods may still be available for use or stored in refrigerators or freezers. 

They are telling anyone who finds they’ve purchased one of these products to throw it away.

So far, there are  no confirmed reports of illness linked to the recall.

Eating foods contaminated with listeria can cause potentially serious illness. About 1,600 people are infected with listeria bacteria each year in the U.S. and about 260 die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Listeria infections typically cause fever, muscle aches and tiredness and may cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. 

Symptoms can occur quickly or not until up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food. The infections are especially dangerous for older people, those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.

Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or send a question via email to [email protected]. 

For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue