The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced the Class 1 Recall Friday.
The jalapeño cheddar smoked sausage items were produced and packaged on March 12 and 13, 2019. The following products are subject to recall:
* 14-oz. film, vacuum packages containing “Johnsonville JALAPEÑO CHEDDAR Smoked Sausage” with a “Best By 06/09/2019” date on the back of the package, and “EST.34224” inside the USDA mark of inspection.
There have been no confirmed illnesses or injuries in connection with this recall, although Johnsonville announced the recall after a customer complained of the plastic. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact their healthcare provider.
There is a concern that this product may be stored in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have these products should throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.
Consumers with questions about the recall can contact Kirsten Bishir, Johnsonville, LLC. Consumer Relations Coordinator, at KBishir@johnsonville.com and by phone or text at 1-888-556-2728.
It’s happened before
This is not the first time Johnsonville has been forced to recall a product because of plastic contamination. On March 15, 2019, the company recalled about 109,603 pounds of smoked pork sausage products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, basically, pieces of hard green plastic.
The item recalled? The 14-oz. plastic packages containing 6 pieces of “JALAPEÑO CHEDDAR Smoked Sausage” with Best By date 04/04/2018 and Batch ID 1001124486 or 1001124487. There were three consumer complaints in March. The sausages were shipped nationwide, with an 83-page list of the stores where the product was sold.
In January, Johnsonville recalled over 48,000 pounds of pork products that may have contained black rubber. Looking into the matter further, Digital Journal found a whole list of recalls for 2019, to date of frozen processed meats and poultry – Your typical chicken nuggets or sausage patty-type foods – and all had foreign material contamination.
And it is not just Johnsonville that has this problem. Other well-known brands, like Tyson and Perdue, are also plagued with products getting contaminated with plastics, rubber or bone pieces. Unsurprisingly, contamination in the processing chain has been going on for a very long time, and as long as we rely on the convenience these products offer, we will just have to be extra vigilant.
