Class I Recall Of Chicken Products Sold At Walmart In 28 States

How can chicken be so shellfish? When you purchase something called “Innovasian Crispy Chicken with Almonds Entrée” and the product label makes no mention of shrimp, you shouldn’t expect to find any shrimp. Yet, a consumer found such unannounced shellfish in this product, which would shrimply unacceptable for those allergic to shellfish. That consumer wasn’t too chicken to complain about this finding to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Now, Mountain View Packaging, LLC, is recalling around 6,013 pounds of this frozen, ready-to-eat product, because it wouldn’t be quite so “ready to eat” if you happen to be one of the 2% or so of Americans with shellfish allergies. That percentage is based on a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2004.

So if you or anyone around you has such allergies and recently bought this product from Walmart, don’t go “winner winner chicken dinner” just yet. First, check your package, your 18.5 ounce package of frozen chicken, that is. Look for a lot code of 22321-1, a universal product code (UPC) of 695119120499, and a best by date 05/24/2023. This will help you fish out whether your product is one those encompassed by the recall. You can also compare the photos of the label provided by the USDA FSIS with what you find on your package—meaning, again, the “Innovasian Crispy Chicken with Almonds Entrée” package.

The following PIX11 News tweet showed a photo of the package:

This recall is fairly far-reaching as such products have been sold in Walmart Stores across 28 different states in the U.S. This includes all the stores on the list provided by Walmart.

Failing to disclose an ingredient on a product label is not the same thing as failing to disclose something on a Tinder profile. Anyone who expects dating profiles to always be accurate probably hasn’t been on a lot of dates. By contrast, product labels are supposed to be trusted sources of information. You typically use such labels to know what specifically may be in products and what in turn may go into your mouth. This can be especially important when the ingredient is a potential allergen and you’ve got food allergies.

Shellfish allergies are among the most common food allergies in the U.S. Allergic reactions to shellfish can vary from mild discomfort to life threatening anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that can affect your body where your airways may tighten to the point that you can’t breathe. This can happen even within seconds of exposure to shellfish, which may not give much time to administer treatment. The primary initial treatment is epinephrine. That’s why it’s a good idea for those with severe allergies to carry around an epinephrine auto-injector. Always having at least two doses around is preferable since you never want to rely on just one thing.

It’s not clear how many wayward shrimps may have made their way to different “Innovasian Crispy Chicken with Almonds Entrée” packages. But even a single piece of shrimp popping up unexpectedly in a product could be a big deal. After all, it may only take a very small amount of the stuff to trigger a major reaction if you happen to be severely allergic to shellfish.

If you are allergic to shellfish, you should be very wary about crustaceans such as shrimp, lobster, or crab as they tend to cause the most allergic reaction. You may be able to eat mollusks like scallops, oysters, clams and mussels without having any reactions. But before you clam up or flex your mussels, check with your doctor first to see if consuming such mollusks will indeed be OK.