Schwan’s Stuffed Chicken Kiev Recall: Pieces of Rubber Found in Chicken

On Friday, the USDA announced that over 40,000 pounds of Frozen Schwan’s Stuffed Chicken Kiev have been recalled after consumers reported finding pieces of rubber in the chicken breasts which were purchased since May 17, 2008.

The Schwan’s Stuffed Chicken recall applies to 20 ounce cartons which each contain 4 individually wrapped boneless chicken breasts.

The recalled cartons feature identification codes of T28217100, T2817200 or T281541000 on the side of each carton, and codes of 21781, 13882 or 15481 on the individual wrappers for each stuffed chicken breast. The products were manufactured on May 17, 2008, June 2, 2008 and August 4, 2008.

The chicken was manufactured by Barber Foods Company, of Portland, Maine, and sold by Schwan’s Home Service, Inc. throughout the United States from catalogs and internet purchases.

Although no injuries have been reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), a number of consumers have reported finding pieces of rubber in the Schwan’s Stuffed Chicken Kiev packages, which could pose a choke hazard.

Last month, on October 3, 2008, the USDA issued a different public health alert involving frozen stuff chicken breasts, which were linked to at least 32 cases of salmonella food poisoning in 12 different states when consumers mistakenly thought that the raw frozen chicken entrees were precooked and microwavable.

Although no manufacturers were identified in that USDA alert, the entrees sold included stuffed chicken kiev, as well as stuffed chicken cordon bleu and other stuffed chicken breasts with vegatables, cheese and other items.