190,000 Pounds of Chicken Recalled for Potentially Containing Hard Plastic

One of the main reasons why frozen chicken strips or fritters are so good is that they don't require much thought. You toss 'em in the oven, and a short time later, you have an easy meal. Unfortunately, a new recall from Tyson this week means you...

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One of the main reasons why frozen chicken strips or fritters are so good is that they don't require much thought. You toss 'em in the oven, and a short time later, you have an easy meal. Unfortunately, a new recall from Tyson this week means you may need think twice before biting into your next chicken fritter.

In a statement issued on Friday, Tyson Foods announced it has voluntarily recalled 190,757 pounds of its Fully Cooked, Whole Grain Golden Crispy Chicken Chunk Fritters because they may be contaminated with pieces of hard plastic. Thankfully, the potentially tainted chicken products weren't sold in grocery stores and were exclusively distributed to the company's food service customers, according to a report by CNN. The recall was reportedly prompted by at least two complaints from school food service customers that found pieces of clear or gray plastic in the chicken.

"Even though these reports are limited, out of an abundance of caution, the company is recalling 5,814 cases of product," the company said. "Tyson Foods has received no reports of injuries or illnesses associated with the affected product."

The fritters were produced on February 28 and distributed to 29 states. Cases are marked with the case code 0599NHL02 and the plant code P-1325 inside the USDA inspection mark, the company said. Tyson has instructed schools and other food service establishments to throw the potentially contaminated products away or return them. It has also provided a hotline for questions, 1-888-747-7611. Hopefully, this means nobody will end up receiving chicken fritters with unwanted ingredients in, say, their school lunch now.

Not to ruin your dinner plans or anything, but this is actually the second major chicken product recall in the span of a week. On May 31, Perdue warned that over 31,000 pounds of its read-to-eat chicken products -- strips, nuggets, and more -- could contain "extraneous materials" such as pieces of bone. On the bright side, there were no reports of injuries at the time of the recall.

All may not be well in the frozen food aisle, but hopefully the recalls will clear up soon. After all, the only thing you should have to actually think about when eating delicious chicken fritters is what kind of sauce you're gonna dip 'em in.


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Tony Merevick is Senior News Editor at Thrillist. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.