The Disturbing Reason An Alert Was Issued For Perdue Chicken Tenders
Perdue is a family-owned and operated company that prides itself on producing high-quality chicken products. The company sells fresh chicken but is well known for its frozen offerings, including chicken tenders, chicken patties, chicken tots, and of course, chicken nuggets. Perdue's chicken products stand out among other commercial nuggets that contain roughly 50% actual chicken meat (per NPR). Customers can be assured that their nuggets won't be filled with pink slime that one one fast-food restaurant was accused of adding to its nuggets.
According to Perdue's website, pre-cooked items such as chicken nuggets are made with breast meat that do not contain added fillers or antibiotics. The company says it only uses American-raised chickens that are not kept in cages or crates. The chickens are fed an all-vegetarian diet and do not consume animal byproducts.
As well as taking care of the chickens, Perdue strives to take care of its customers. The company offers organic products, as well as gluten-free products. The gluten-free Perdue products include breaded chicken nuggets, breaded tenders, and breaded chicken strips. Unfortunately, customers found something unexpected in the gluten-free chicken tenders.
The chicken may have traces of foreign material
A health alert issued by the USDA was announced on Tuesday for Perdue's gluten-free chicken tenders, after a customer found a "small piece of clear plastic and blue dye inside it." A customer who purchased the tenders at BJ's Wholesale Club returned the package and complained about the findings. The store filed a complaint, which led to the USDA finding contamination in the products.
Fortunately, there have been no reports of anyone having a negative reaction or falling ill due to the impact chicken. The product is not actually recalled, as it is not currently being sold in stores. Those who are worried they may have a bad batch should check the label for a "use by" date of "07 12 23," a lot number of 2193, and an establishment number of P-33944 (per Today). The last time the bags were produced was on July 12. Those who do have a contaminated bag should either throw it away or return it to the store where it was purchased.