Milford Valley Farms Chicken Strips Recalled Due to Plastic Fragments

A recall has been issued for frozen “Crunchy” chicken strips sold under the Milford Valley Farms label, due to a risk that they may contain small plastic pieces that pose a potential choking hazard for consumers.

The frozen chicken strips recall was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on Friday, after at least two consumers reported finding small fragments of plastic in their food.

Approximately 2,250 pounds of “Millford Valley Farms Crunchy Chicken Strips” are impacted by the recall. The frozen chicken was sold in 30-oz cartons, which were contained in 7.5 pound cases.

All of the recalled chicken strips have a “use by” date of January 17, 2014 and were sold in packaging that bears the establishment number “P-2375” and the UPC code “0-73981-32286-7”.

The chicken strips recall was first announced on September 14, with federal food regulators considering the action a Class III recall, suggesting that there is an extremely low risk of injury. However, after further evaluation it has been re-categorized as a Class II recall, involving a remote probability of adverse health consequences from the use of this product.

Consumers have been advised by the FSIS to immediately contact their healthcare provider for treatment if they experience injury caused by plastic pieces contained in any chicken strip products.

There have been a number of food recalls issued in recent years due to manufacturing problems that allowed small pieces of plastic to contaminate food. Last year we reported on contamination involving Kashi Frozen Pizza and Lean Cuisine spaghetti and meatballs frozen dinners that were removed from store shelves due to similar reports of problems.

In 2010, there at least three major food recalls due to plastic fragments found in frozen foods, including about 72,000 pounds of Bumble Bee Lunch on the Run canned chicken salad, nearly 100,000 pounds of Wal-Mart frozen chicken nuggets and 110,000 pounds of Marketside barbeque chicken pizza.