Canada’s Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health has put out a caution notice with particular concern about frozen raw breaded chicken products.
There have been hundreds of cases of salmonella food poisoning linked to the frozen chicken and there have been some recalls, such as by Loblaws for its No Name products and Pinty’s Delicious Food Products Inc.’s frozen breaded chicken products.
“Despite these warnings and efforts to educate the public on safe food-handling practices, we continue to see hundreds of salmonella illnesses among Canadians of all ages because of consumption of or exposure to improperly cooked frozen raw breaded chicken products,” the council said in its statement.
It is urging Canadians to cook all chicken products, including these frozen ones, to at least 74 Celsius, which is ab out 165 Fahrenheit.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Public Health Agency of Canada want the poultry industry to identify and implement measures at the manufacturing and processing level to reduce salmonella to below a detectable amount in frozen raw breaded chicken products for all products produced on or after April 1, 2019.
“However, until April 1, 2019, and likely for up to a year after this date, frozen raw breaded chicken products containing salmonella will continue to be in the marketplace and in freezers across the country,” the medical officers noted.
“This is why, collectively, we are stressing the importance of handling and preparing frozen raw breaded chicken products with caution.”
