| In: Unsafe Foods
Banquet Pot Pies Recalled Due to Salmonella Outbreak
Banquet Pot Pies, weighing in at 382 calories and 22 grams of fat – including 8.9 grams of saturated fat – are hardly a diet food of choice, but Fat Loss Victory brings to your attention another food recall; one of numerous in the past several weeks:
Federal authorities are warning consumers not to eat Banquet frozen turkey and chicken pot pies or similar generic store-brand products because they may have caused an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began investigating last week after receiving reports of illness. By Friday, it had identified the pot pies as a potential source of the salmonella that sickened more than 100 people in dozens of states.
The CDC sent inspectors Monday to the manufacturer, ConAgra Foods Inc.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on Tuesday advised consumers not to eat the pot pies “until we are able to determine the source, products and potential production dates of contamination and to verify proper cooking instructions for these not-ready-to-eat products.”
ConAgra voluntarily stopped making the pies Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based food giant said the fault may lie in how consumers are preparing the product.
“The company reminds consumers that these products are not ready-to-eat, and must always be thoroughly cooked as instructed on the packages,” the company said in a statement on its Web site. “The cooking instructions for these products are specifically designed to eliminate the presence of common pathogens found in many uncooked products.”
The pot pies in question have the code P-9 printed on the side of the package, ConAgra said.
Consumers may get refunds by returning the product packaging — minus the contents — to the store where they bought it or by sending the side panel of the package that says “P-9″ to ConAgra Foods, Dept. BQPP, P.O. Box 3768, Omaha, Nebraska 68103-0768.
As always, Fat Loss Victory, recommends the helpful food safety resources of The U.S. FDA Center for Health Safety and Applied Nutrition website.