Whenever customers or manufacturers discover traces of foreign objects in food and drinks, recalls promptly follow. These can be particles of glass or metal that ended up in the goods during manufacturing. Consuming them can lead to injuries. That’s why you should always avoid any food or drink that might contain traces of metal or glass. With that in mind, you should make sure you don’t eat the Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp ready-to-eat (RTE) bacon topping from this new recall. These meat products might contain metal, which can obviously harm you if you eat it.
Smithfield Packaged Meats bacon recall
Smithfield’s bacon recall is massive, as the company has recalled approximately 185,610 pounds of RTE bacon topic products. That’s over 90 tons of product that might have been contaminated with bits of metal.
The announcement comes from the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and it’s available at this link.
The agency expects other products to be added to the recall, and urges people to check back frequently so they can view the updated list and labels.
At the time of this writing, the following Smithfield bacon products were part of the recall:
- “Golden Crisp PATRICK CUDAHY PRECOOKED BACON TOPPING” SKU 43200 12002 with lot codes 2054, 2062 and 2063 (5-lb. packages)
- “Smithfield PRECOOKED BACON TOPPING” SKU 43200 12003 with lot codes 2063 and 2064 (5-lb. packages)
- “Golden Crisp PATRICK CUDAHY FULLY COOKED BACON TOPPING APPLEWOOD SMOKED” SKU 43200 12296 with lot codes 2053 and 2062 (5-lb. packages)
- “Smithfield FULLY COOKED BACON TOPPING” SKU 43200 12663 with lot code 2064 (5-lb. packages)
- “MEMBER’S MARK FULLY COOKED BACON CRUMBLES” SKU 78742240923 with “BEST IF USED BY” date of “2022-11-18” (5-lb. packages)
The recalled products also feature the establishment number “EST. 27384” inside the USDA mark of inspection. Smithfield shipped the goods to distributors and retailers nationwide. Other companies might have used the bacon to produce other products.
A customer complained they found metal in a package of Smithfield RTE bacon, and this triggered the recall. There have been no confirmed reports of injury or illness connected with the bacon products so far.
What you should do
If you’ve eaten products containing the Smithfield bacon in the recall and you’re worried about the presence of metal, you should contact your doctor.
The FSIS urges buyers who still have Smithfield RTE bacon at home not to consume the product. Given the long shelf-life for the bacon, it’s likely that buyers still have it in their refrigerators and freezers. The agency advises customers to dispose of the products or return them to the place of purchase.
As is common with recalls, you should read the full press release for complete details about this one at this link. You’ll find contact information for the company and more images of product labels.
But it’s even more important to keep checking the Smithfield bacon recall announcement. Other products might be added to the recall list in the future, as the FSIS warned.
