New year, new food recalls.
We're only two days into 2019, and it looks like we're already having to worry about the food that's in our freezers.
Meat and vegetable recalls were rampant in 2018, including nationwide recalls for ground beef, turkey, and Romaine lettuce linked to fatal E. Coli and salmonella outbreaks.
Now, R.L Ziegler Co. joins another list of companies who have recently issued recalls for their food products. The company is recalling 11,664 pounds of ready-to-eat Ziegler chicken and pork sausage products due to possible foreign matter contamination, specifically metal.
According to the announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the sausages were produced on November 29, 2018 and have a use-by date of January 4, 2019.
Each of the 24-ounce packages are stamped with the USDA mark of inspection and establishment number "EST. P-9156S." The packs contain nine sausage links and both the red hots as well as extra hot sausage varieties are affected.
The sausages were shipped to retailers nationwide, including Walmart, but consumer complaints weren't received until December 13.
After further complaints, an investigation was launched, which determined that the products were possibly contaminated with metal. The USDA has since classified the recall as Class I, which means that "there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death."
So far, no injuries have been reported, but the FSIS is urging everyone to check their freezers and throw out any recalled items or return them from where they were purchased.
If you have consumed a recalled product and are concerned about falling ill, you should seek medical help immediately.
This is the second sausage recall in a span of three weeks over fears of metal contamination.
Last month, 29,000 pounds of Jimmy Dean pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat pork and poultry sausage link were recalled.
The products involved in the recall include 23.4-oz pouches of Jimmy Dean HEAT 'n SERVE Original Sausage Links made with pork & turkey with a use by date of Jan 31, 2019. Case Code: A6382168 with a time stamp range of 11:58 through 01:49.