Sausage Recall After Pieces of Rubber Found in Products

A Denmark, Wisconsin-based cooked sausages producer is recalling about 35,430 pounds of turkey sausage over concerns they may be contaminated with pieces of rubber, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has said.

In an alert issued on Thursday, the federal agency announced that Salm Partners, which describes itself as the “market leader in cook-in-package sausage and hot dogs,” was recalling batches of 12-ounce Johnsonville Polish Kielbasa turkey sausage.

FSIS said the firm had issued the recall after receiving complaints from consumers saying that they had found pieces of black rubber in the product. However, there had been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions or injury due to their consumption.

Johnsonville, the Wisconsin-based sausage brand, said the same day that “although there have been no reported injuries involved with this product and there is a small chance of any adverse health hazard, protecting the consumer is our priority and why we’re issuing the recall.” Newsweek approached Salm Partners via email for comment on Friday.

The vacuum-packed sausages under the recall were produced between October 30 and 31, 2023 and display best-before dates of May 17 or May 18 this year.

Johnsonville said the 4,721 cases bear the establishment number P-32009 and were shipped to retail locations in January and February in 11 states: California, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.

FSIS said it was “concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators” and urged them not to eat the product. Instead, it asked that people throw the products away or return them to the place of purchase.

The latest announcement is the second time this year Salm Partners has issued a recall of its turkey kielbasa due to the presence of foreign material.

In January, the company said it was recalling more than 130,000 pounds of turkey sausage after several complaints from customers concerning bone fragments. FSIS said at the time that, of the two who complained directly to the agency, one suffered a minor oral injury after eating the product.

Thursday’s recall is just the latest related to meat products to occur this year.

On February 29, a New York butcher recalled over 93,000 pounds of raw meats after receiving multiple complaints of a “chemical taste” from restaurants it supplied. The company said it had been supplied with seal oil—which is used to treat chopping boards—that was not food-grade.

In mid-February, a Miami, Florida-based Cuban-style cured meats producer recalled over 9,000 pounds of ready-to-eat products after a sample was found to contain listeria, a potentially deadly bacteria.

A few days prior, an Italian charcuterie producer recalled some of its cold cuts over concerns one may have been underprocessed, leaving the possibility of contamination with pathogens including salmonella.