Tyson Foods Recalls Chicken Items On Contamination Fears

Meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE:TSN) has announced that it is voluntarily recalling 132,520 pounds of chicken nuggets on possibilties of contamination with hard plastic.

The recall was prompted after few customers reported that they found pieces of hard white plastic in the nuggets they bought. Tyson believes that the plastic content may have come from a plastic rod used during the manufacturing process. Moreover, the company stated that the metal detector, through which these products are passed, cannot detect plastic.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that it is a Class 1 recall and has high health risk if the contaminated food is consumed. FSIS has requested the customers not to consume the products and report to a health care provider even if slightest symptoms of illness are observed. Thankfully, no cases of illness have been reported from the consumption of the products, as of now.

The recall applies to fully cooked panko chicken nuggets produced on July 18, of which five pound bag contains “Tyson fully cooked panko chicken nuggets” with a “Best If Used By” date of July 18, 2017The recall also includes 20 pound cases of nugget-shaped chicken breast patty fritters with rib meat.

The recalled products have an establishment number of “EST. 13556” printed next to the “Best If Used By” date.

Earlier in Nov 2015, Tyson had recalled almost 52,486 pounds of chicken wing product on fear of being adulterated because of having an “off odor” scent. The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company had also ordered a massive recall of more than 131,300 pounds of ground beef products on the grounds of a possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination in Oct 2011.

Recurring recalls of food items may result in loss for Tyson Foods. Frequent recalls may also affect investors’ sentiments negatively, which might result in decline of share prices.

Other Picks

Other stocks in the broader consumer staples sector worth considering include Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM) and Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) and The WhiteWave Foods Company. (NYSE:WWAV) .

Sanderson Farms has an average earnings surprise of positive 25.01% in the trailing four quarters. The company sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Hormel Foods carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 11.8%.

The WhiteWave Foods Company also carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 16.3%.

Confidential from Zacks

Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>>