The Kirkwood breaded stuffed chicken Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak is the number four multistate food poisoning outbreak of 2021, with at least 36 people sickened in 11 states. Twelve people were hospitalized because they were so ill.
The patient case count by state was: Arizona (4), Arkansas (1), Connecticut (1), Illinois (10), Indiana (4), Michigan (1), Minnesota (4), Nevada (1), New York (7), Ohio (1), and Oklahoma (2). Illness onset dates ranged from February 21, 2021 to August 16, 2021. Patients ranged in age from one year to 83.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture found the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis in two samples of Kirkwood’s Chicken Cordon Bleu after collecting five frozen raw breaded stuffed chicken products from a grocery store where an ill person shopped. Officials in Indiana collected unopened packages of Kirkwood Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheese from a patient’s home and also found the outbreak strain. The chicken products were produced at the P-2375 Serenade Foods facility in Milford, Indiana.
Serenade Foods recalled about 59,251 pounds of frozen raw breaded stuffed chicken products on August 9, 2021. About 24,806 pounds of these products were recovered according to the USDA. The recalled items include:
Dutch Farms Chicken with Broccoli & Cheese (lot code BR 1055; best if used by February 24, 2023)
Milford Valley Chicken with Broccoli & Cheese (lot code BR 1055; best if used by February 24, 2023)
Milford Valley Chicken Cordon Bleu (lot code BR 1055; best if used by February 24, 2023)
Kirkwood Raw Stuffed Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese (lot code BR 1055; best if used by February 24, 2023)
Kirkwood Raw Stuffed Chicken Cordon Bleu (lot code BR 1056; best if used by February 25, 2023)
There are several issues with these types of products. First, the breading can be contaminated. It can fall off the chicken and contaminate surfaces in the kitchen and lead to cross-contamination with other foods. Second, consumers do microwave some of these products, even though the label says not to prepare the product that way, which may not fully and evenly heat the entire stuffed chicken to a temperature high enough to kill any pathogens (165°F). And third, most people do not use thermometers to check the final temperature of these types of items, so pathogens may survive.
Symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning typically take six hours to six days to appear. Most people suffer from headache, chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, abdominal pain, and diarrhea that can be bloody. If you have eaten these products and have been il with those symptoms, see your doctor. You may be part of this Kirkwood breaded stuffed chicken Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak.
If you or a loved one have been sickened with a Salmonella infection after eating recalled frozen Kirkwood breaded stuffed chicken products, please contact our experienced attorneys for help at 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
