WASHINGTON — Forget the road, this is about chickens crossing the border.
A listeria scare has prompted the recall of 20,446 pounds of imported chicken skewer products shipped to Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Texas from Montreal-based Expersco Foods, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The recalled products are:
- 1.31-pound packages of “WEST END CUISINE GRILLED MEDITERRANEAN STYLE Chicken Skewers hand-made with chicken breast” containing the UPC code 621588314947 with lot codes: 172562, 172640, 172571 and 172704.
- 1.09-pound packages of “EXPRESCO GRILLED Garlic & Herb Chicken Skewers” containing the UPC code 621588315555 with lot codes: 172563, 172668, 172669 and 172670.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service said that the fully cooked chicken skewer items were packaged on Aug. 9 and Aug. 15. The products bear the number “36” inside the Canadian Food Inspection Agency mark of inspection.
A federal import inspector discovered the potential problem during a routine inspection of foreign shipments. The USDA said that there have been no confirmed reports of illness due to consumption of the products yet. However, officials were concerned that some of the chicken may be frozen in consumers’ freezers.
The USDA urged consumers to throw away the items or return them to the store where they were purchased.