You never want to see a huge food recall due to salmonella, but you especially don’t want to see a huge food recall due to salmonella in turkey the week before Thanksgiving.
Jennie-O issued a recall this week for 91,000 pounds of turkey as part of an ongoing salmonella outbreak, CBS reports. While Jennie-O is the latest to issue a recall, it’s not the only company impacted by the outbreak. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said that the outbreak is widespread and likely includes a number of different producers in the industry.
In the case of Jennie-O, the recall pertains specifically to one-pound packages of raw, ground turkey that were sold by the company nationwide.
The good news is that the impacted packages had a use-by date of October 1 or 2, so if you purchased one, chances are you’ve already consumed it (and hopefully didn’t get sick). That said, there’s a good chance that more than a few of the contaminated packages are currently in freezers.
Here’s what’s recalled:
“Jennie-O Ground Turkey 93% LEAN | 7% FAT” with “Use by” dates of 10/01/2018 and 10/02/2018.
“Jennie-O Taco Seasoned Ground Turkey” with a “Use by” date of 10/02/2018.
“Jennie-O Ground Turkey 85% LEAN | 15% FAT” with a “Use by” date of 10/02/2018.
“Jennie-O Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey” with a “Use by” date of 10/02/2018.
So far this particular outbreak has been responsible for 164 reported illnesses in 35 states as well as one death.
If you own a package of the ground turkey in question you should toss it immediately. The outbreak is also a good time to revisit food safety rules in general.
If you’re responsible for cooking the turkey for your family feast this year make sure you thaw the bird in your fridge, not your counter, wash your hands thoroughly after handling the raw turkey, and make sure you cook it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees (you’ll need a food thermometer to check). You’ll also want to make sure your leftovers hit that same temperature before you eat them.
CBS notes that cooking turkey to an internal temperature of 165 can kill this particular strain of salmonella, so if you do things right everyone will stay healthy after dinner even if your bird didn’t set you up for success.