Sausage Recalled Due To Small Pieces of Plastic

Smithfield Packing Company, a Smithfield, Va. establishment, is recalling approximately 38,000 pounds of pork sausage that may contain small pieces of plastic, likely from gloves, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The following products are subject to recall:

1-lb. chubs of “Gwaltney mild pork sausage roll” with a use-by date of Mar. 12, 2013
Cases containing chubs of “Gwaltney mild pork sausage roll” with a case code of 78533109741

The sausage recalled product bears the establishment number “Est. 221-A” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The products were produced on Jan. 11, 2013, and were distributed in Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The problem was discovered after the company received two consumer complaints. FSIS and the company have received no reports of injury at this time. Anyone concerned about an injury from consumption of these products should contact a healthcare provider.

FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify that recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers.

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact Wendy Johnson, Manager of Consumer Affairs, at (877) 933-4625. Media with questions about the recall should contact Dennis Pittman, Director of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, at (910) 876-4776.

Consumers with food safety questions can “Ask Karen,” the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov or via smartphone at m.askkaren.gov. “Ask Karen” live chat services are available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day. The online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at: www.fsis.usda.gov