Another chicken recall: Pilgrim's Pride cooked chicken products

[andiesenji]

PILGRIM’S PRIDE RECALLS 4.5 MILLION POUNDS OF CHICKEN PRODUCTS

I doubt that many folks here buy fully cooked chicken products but probably know people who do.  Pass the info along, just in case.

 

[Shel_B]

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 7:47 AM, andiesenji said:

PILGRIM’S PRIDE RECALLS 4.5 MILLION POUNDS OF CHICKEN PRODUCTS

I doubt that many folks here buy fully cooked chicken products but probably know people who do.  Pass the info along, just in case.

 

 

I was astounded to learn of the amount of chicken this company processes, and of the debris that was found in the chicken.  How could such a thing happen on so great a scale and over so long a period of time?  Perhaps this food processing company is too big.  What kind of inspection or oversight are they subject to?

 

BTW, I liked the site and information, and signed up to receive their emails.

[Deryn]

I have avoided all 'processed' chicken (and other meat) products for a long time now and urge everyone else to do the same if possible - particularly if you are feeding these things to your kids. Many adults don't even eat this stuff any more - we prefer a non-pre-regurgitated dinner - kids are the largest audience for these products, and they are being fed to them in schools and fast food joints, often where parents don't even know what they are eating.

 

The 'processing' part may be (is most likely) done in China these days and not marked as such - because they no longer have to be, by law. This is globalisation 'progress' at its best. We simply cannot adequately monitor the quality of processed foods, particularly meats, when parts of the process are completed thousands of miles outside our borders - for the sake of 'profit'. We have a hard enough time doing that when things are completely domestically prepared. If one must eat frozen chicken bits, at least insist on making them whole meat parts (like tenders that haven't been pre-ground and formed).

[JohnT]

I wonder how much of this rejected muck will end up on South African supermarket shelves. At the moment we are a dumping ground for unwanted US chicken. See: http://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/Food-safety/unwanted-american-chicken-dumped-in-south-africa-20160324

 

John.

[Smithy]

55 minutes ago, JohnT said:

I wonder how much of this rejected muck will end up on South African supermarket shelves. At the moment we are a dumping ground for unwanted US chicken. See: http://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/Food-safety/unwanted-american-chicken-dumped-in-south-africa-20160324

 

John.

 

How strange.  The article says that thighs and drumsticks are generally considered 'by-products' and sold off quickly.  I'd have said, based on what I see in our stores and the personal preferences of my family and friends, that thigh meat (at least) is prized almost as highly as breast meat here.

 

At any rate, I read this linked article to mean chicken parts, as opposed to processed (ground, mixed with other things, cooked at the factory) chicken.  That doesn't help your farmers - nor does it mean you're getting good, fresh local chicken if it's coming from here - but maybe it means that a recall is a recall.

[Martin Fisher]

It's not a very well researched article.

"What’s even worse is that the FDA has admitted that more than 70% of their chicken contains arsenic, used to promote the health and growth of the birds."

 

"The approval of all applications for use of nitarsone in animal feed are withdrawn as of December 31, 2015. Following this action, there are no FDA-approved, arsenic-based drugs for use in food producing animals."

Source: http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/newsevents/cvmupdates/ucm440668.htm

 

 

[JohnT]

The raw US chicken is something we have not seen for years - it is all heavily injected with brine before it is frozen and is like a lump of jelly/jello when defrosted. Terrible stuff! However, the processed US chicken products (nuggets, burger patties etc.) have appeared in the supermarkets here for a number of years and also sells at lower prices than the local product. Not good stuff although the local equivelant is also not something I would purchase either.

 

[Deryn]

I wonder how much arsenic may enter poultry merely because they peck in dirt or are fed grains that were grown in areas where arsenic is a problem (i.e. perhaps where rice grown in the US, which often can contain more arsenic than is naturally found in rice grown elsewhere around the world, is produced) - without even being deliberately given to them as drugs or to 'promote health and growth of the birds' (whatever the source of that may be). Chickens are not large birds - I don't imagine it would take much to show up in their bodies.

 

Time to set up my own chicken coop methinks.

 

John - sorry to hear that chicken products in your part of the world are now often castoffs from the US (the quality of which is bad enough here - and getting worse quickly).