Don’t fire that breakfast griddle up just yet — your bacon may be at risk. On October 17, Kayem Foods Inc. issued a recall for more than 1.5 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat products that may have been stored at improper temperatures, according to an announcement from the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). This includes bacon, deli meats, poultry and more, with an extensive list of potentially affected products that may be sitting in your fridge right now.
Keep reading to find out more about which products were affected, and what to do if you have them.
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What is included in the Kayem Foods meat recall?
Kayem Foods, Inc. has recalled several meats because they may have experienced temperature abuse while being stored prior to delivery. The issue was found after a retail customer complained of warm product temperatures on October 1, after which an investigation was conducted.
The investigation determined that a range of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products were being stored in a warehouse cooler with inconsistencies in temperature that make them potentially unsafe to consume. Cold food should be kept at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the FSIS — anything above that can result in spoilage and bacteria growth, potentially causing food poisoning or other illness.
Inside the USDA inspection seal, the recalled products have establishment numbers “EST. M/P 7839,” “EST. P 20935A” and “EST. M 9520”. The products were produced approximately between March 31 and Oct. 7 and shipped to retailers nationwide and in Hong Kong. The list includes hot dogs, bacon, turkey breast (deli meat), corned beef, chicken sausage and more — you can check here for a full list of recalled products and check to see if you have any (there’s also an abbreviated list with images). Consumers can also contact Kayem Foods’ customer service Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET at 800-426-6100 or email them at info@kayem.com.
What to do if you have the recalled meat?
If your meat was recalled, you should throw it out. Alternatively, the FSIS recommends returning it to your place of purchase, but above all, it stresses that consumers should not consume the meat.
Even when cooked to a proper temperature, there’s no way to guarantee the meat’s safety, and you can’t tell just by looking at it, either. “One of the most important things for consumers to understand is that you cannot reliably determine whether food is safe by looking at it, smelling it, or tasting it,” Melissa Vaccaro, senior food safety program specialist at the National Environmental Health Association, told NBC Selected in our guide to food safety during a power outage. “Food can contain disease-causing microorganisms without looking or smelling spoiled. And never taste questionable food to decide whether it is safe.”
The best products for keeping your meat safe
There are products that can help you keep your meat temperature-safe during storage and preparation. Remember that these aren’t solutions to official recall warnings, and all contaminated products should be thrown away or returned — not consumed. The products below, however, can help you store non-recalled food and ensure that your method of storing keeps it safe to eat.
Digital thermometers can alert you to temperature changes in your fridge or freezer that can result in spoiled food. This thermometer includes one fridge and one freezer thermometer, each of which sends real-time readings to the LCD display, according to the brand. The LCD display has a magnetic backing for mounting to the front of a fridge, and a foldout stand for countertop placement, and includes a programmable alarm as well. This can be especially helpful to alert you of the temperature drop if the power goes out overnight, giving you the opportunity to move your food to a cooler or insulated bag.
Insulated grocery bags are great for keeping your food cold or frozen on your way back from the store, and these lightweight bags can keep food cold or hot for up to an hour and a half, according to the brand. They’re also foldable, making them easy to store, and can hold up to 25 pounds of groceries in each bag.
You can use these ice packs to keep food and other contents cold for up to 48 hours, according to Cooler Shock. Once you add water and freeze them, the nylon exterior holds up over time, so you won’t need to restock the ice again. It’s great for coolers and totes, and comes in packs of three or five in varying sizes. These are ideal if you’re heading to the beach or pool and want to bring sandwiches, hot dogs or other food that needs to be kept at a certain temperature for safe consumption.
While cooking recalled meat will not make it safe to eat, a meat thermometer is handy for ensuring that non-recalled meat and poultry is cooked to a safe temperature. This one lets you read temperatures in either Fahrenheit or Celsius, and has an LCD screen with large numbers, making it easy to read, according to the brand. It also includes a storage sleeve for safekeeping, which has a protein temperature chart on the side for reference while cooking.
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I am an associate SEO reporter for NBC Selected who’s been covering various topics for more than two years. I frequently report on skin care news, along with weekly reporting on sales and deals from prominent brands and retailers. For this piece, I researched the recall on Kayem Foods Inc. meat products to find out everything you need to know about its recent recall.
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