Kroger, Aldi and other grocery stores are recalling chicken over listeria concerns

If you’ve purchased frozen cooked, diced or shredded chicken or pre-made chicken salad recently, listen up. Tip Top Poultry, Inc. is recalling some of their products for possible listeria contamination.

The original recall was issued in September and included Trader Joe’s and Target, but it was expanded to even more stores, including Kroger, Aldi, Food Lion and Piggly Wiggly. The full list of affected stores includes other markets and grocers as well.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the expanded recall, saying the ready-to-eat chicken products were produced between Jan. 21, 2019, and Sept. 24, 2019.

The recalled products include ready-to-eat sandwiches and chicken salad, as well as frozen items like chicken pot pie and butter chicken spring rolls. To view all the products included in the recall, just visit the USDA’s website. You can also view the labels of the products included in the recall.

The recall notes that the products could have been served at the deli counter in stores as well.

Tip Top’s recalled products have the establishment number “Est. P-17453” inside the USDA mark of inspection, and the product codes range from 10000 to 19999 and 70000 to 79999. There are quite a few products included in this recall, so if you have chicken or chicken products in the freezer or fridge, you’ll want to check them against the full list.

The potential for contamination was discovered when “multiple samples of the product confirmed positive for the presence of Listeria monocytogenes after being tested in Canada,” according to the recall notice.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, which primarily affects older adults, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women and their newborns, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Listeriosis symptoms can vary, but it can cause fever, muscle aches, nausea, diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. For people in those higher-risk groups, it can be an especially dangerous infection.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to the recalled chicken products, but the USDA suggests anyone concerned about an illness should see their doctor.

If you have questions about the recall, you can contact the USDA online or call the agency’s Meat and Poultry hotline at 888-674-6854 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern Monday through Friday.