A high-risk food recall has been expanded to include an additional 67,000 pounds of meat and poultry products.
South Carolina-based Yu Shang Food, Inc. previously announced the recall of 4,589 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products on November 9, due to possible contamination with listeria bacteria.
However, on Thursday the recall was expanded 15-fold by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to involve a total of 72,240 pounds of meat products.
This includes all within-date ready-to-eat Yu Shang products produced before October 28, 2024, with items including spicy duck wings, chicken feet, pork hock and cooked chicken.
This recall has been given FSIS’s highest risk level, Class I, which the FDA defines as ‘a situation in which there is reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.’
The CDC reports 11 people are infected and nine have been hospitalized. One person – an infant – died. The affected people live in California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.
The products subject to recall bear establishment number ‘P-46684’ or ‘EST. M46684’ inside the USDA mark of inspection.
South Carolina-based Yu Shang Food, Inc. has announced the recall of 72,240 pounds of meat products due to possible contamination with listeria bacteria
These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide and they were also available for purchase online.
The problem was discovered after FSIS performed routine testing of products produced by Yu Shang Food, Inc. on October 21, 2024, that confirmed some meat items were positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
Additional testing has confirmed that Listeria monocytogenes was detected in product and in environmental samples collected by FSIS.
Whole genome sequencing is underway to determine if these samples match the outbreak strain.
Consumption of food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns.
Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.
An invasive infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract.
In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics.
The CDC estimates 1,600 Americans become infected with listeria every year, and about 260 die.
FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators and freezers.
Some people have reported feeling ill, and the FSIS is currently investigating a link with Yu Shang products (stock image)
Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them.
These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
The FSIS says anyone concerned about illness should contact a healthcare provider and persons in the higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating contaminated food should ‘seek medical care and tell the health care provider about eating the contaminated food’.
FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers.
The news of the recall comes off the back of another recall concerning Wolverine Packing Co., based out of Detroit, Michigan
This week it announced it is pulling approximately 167,277 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with the deadly E. Coli bacteria.
The fresh products have a ‘use by’ date of 11/14/2024 and the frozen products are labeled with production date 10/22/24.
The beef was shipped to restaurants nationwide.
To date, 17 case-patients have been identified in one state, Minnesota, with illness onset dates ranging from November 2 to November 10. Two people have been hospitalized.
Ex-USDA food chief Dr Darin Detwiler told DailyMail.com that ‘tragically, this is not the first time Wolverine Packaging Co. has been involved in such a recall.’
The company faced a similar issue in 2014 with the recall of some 1.8 million pounds of ground beef.
