Portable Planet

Listeriosisis one of those food contamination illnesses that one should attempt to avoid at all costs. This is why Carolina Culinary Foods is participating in a voluntary recall of52,650 pounds of cooked chicken breast strips that were manufactured for Oscar Mayer. The details of the recall follow.

Carolina Culinary Foods, a West Columbia, S.C., firm, is voluntarily recalling approximately 52,650 pounds of fully cooked chicken breast strips that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The following product was manufactured for Oscar Mayer and is subject to recall:

6-ounce packages of “OSCAR MAYER/LOUIS RICH CHICKEN BREAST STRIPS WITH RIB MEAT, GRILLED, FULLY COOKED - READY TO EAT.” The front of each package bears the establishment number “P-19676″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. On the back of each package appears a “Use by” date of “19 Apr 2007.” The code “19 APR 2007″ appears on each case.
The chicken breast strips were produced on Jan. 9, 2007 and distributed to retail establishments nationwide.

The problem was discovered through microbiological testing completed by the Georgia Department of Agriculture. FSIS has received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of this product.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease. Healthy people rarely contract listeriosis. However, listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy.

Media with questions about the recall should call Oscar Mayer Representative Elisabeth Wenner at . Consumers with questions about the recall should contact Kraft Consumer Response at .

Consumers with food safety questions can “Ask Karen,” the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline () is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.