Why More Than 14,000 Pounds Of Sausage Sticks Have Been Recalled

A complaint from a consumer who purchased a ready-to-eat sausage stick and discovered there were a couple of pieces of metal fragments lodged inside the meat has led to a recall of over 7 tons of sausage sticks and luncheon loaf (14,635 pounds, to be exact) due to concerns about additional foreign matter contamination, according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The recall was issued earlier this week and is limited to sausage sticks and luncheon loaf products made by the New York-based Ri Wang Food Group Co., Ltd., the FSIS confirms. These products were manufactured between April 5, 2022 and May 5, 2022, and include luncheon loaf in 16-ounce packages, and sausage sticks in 10- and 23-ounce packages. All three of the individual products are identifiable by the establishment number "EST. 40200A," which is located inside the USDA's inspection mark on the packaging.

The recalled pork products were shipped and sold in stores nationwide, and although to date no injuries have been reported from metal fragments or other foreign matter, the FSIS believes some of these products may still be in the possession of consumers. If you think you may have purchased one or more of these food products, don't try to eat them. Instead, the FSIS recommends discarding them or returning them to the store where they were purchased.

It's still unknown how metal fragments became implanted in a sausage stick, but it bears noting that metal fragments have been a factor in at least three other recalls this year. As CBS News reported, there was a recall in March of nearly 162,000 pounds of Skippy peanut butter due to the potential presence of metal fragments from manufacturing equipment. Food Safety News, meanwhile, has reported on two instances of metal fragment related recalls in 2022, one involving H-E-B brownie bites, the other Delizza brand cream puffs.