Frozen chicken stuffed with broccoli and cheese comes with a crispy, browned crust that makes it look cooked. It isn't. These "not ready-to-eat" breaded, stuffed chicken products caused 11 Salmonella outbreaks in the United States from 1998 to 2022 — 187 illnesses and 42 hospitalizations, with no deaths — even after packaging was changed in 2006 to say the product is raw and warn against microwaving it.
What the outbreaks showed
| Outbreaks | 11, confirmed in CDC's Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System |
| Contamination | In samples from patients' homes, a median of 57% per outbreak (range 0–100%) grew Salmonella; from stores, a median of 57% (11–93%). In every outbreak where product was sampled, at least one matched the patients' strain |
| Producers | At least three establishments. Establishments A and B were each implicated in five outbreaks, C in three; A and C are still operating, two of the six U.S. plants that make these products |
| Chicken used | Ground ("comminuted") chicken in the 2015 and 2021 outbreaks; earlier outbreaks didn't record the type |
| Response | FSIS product recalls in six outbreaks, public health alerts in seven |
Labels helped — but not enough
| Patients who cooked the product in a microwave | Median per outbreak |
|---|---|
| 1998–2006, before label changes (47 patients, 4 outbreaks) | 85% (range 67–100%) |
| 2008–2021, after label changes (57 patients, 7 outbreaks) | 20% (range 0–75%) |
Fewer people microwaved the product after labels changed, but outbreaks continued. Some people who knew it was raw and followed the instructions still got sick. Labels now recommend a conventional oven and a food thermometer, yet in one consumer study 12% of people who read the label still didn't realize the product was raw or partly cooked, and 52% of thermometer owners said they usually didn't use one for it. Labels also can't fix unequal access to the recommended appliances.
The real toll is likely higher
In a national survey, 7.4% of people said they had eaten these products in the previous week. Minnesota Department of Health officials identified every multistate outbreak, and almost half the outbreaks had cases found only in Minnesota — suggesting others went unnoticed elsewhere. And only a small share of all Salmonella illnesses are ever identified.
Fixing it at the source
The authors conclude that consumer-focused measures aren't sufficient, and that manufacturers need stronger Salmonella controls on ingredients. Ground chicken, commonly used in these products, has the highest allowable rate of Salmonella positives under FSIS performance standards: 13 of 52 samples, or 25%.
- A U.S. proposal. On April 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed declaring Salmonella an adulterant in these products at one colony-forming unit per gram or more — making them subject to regulatory action if Salmonella is found even at very low levels.
- Canada's example. After 19 Salmonella outbreaks from raw breaded chicken products — mostly nuggets, not stuffed — in 2015–2019, Canada introduced four control options to reduce Salmonella below detectable levels. In 2019, illness from Salmonella Enteritidis, the serotype in 89% of those outbreaks, was 33% lower than in 2015–2018 and 7% lower than in 2010–2014.
Sources
Based on Laura Ford, Sean Buuck, Taylor Eisenstein, et al., "Salmonella Outbreaks Associated with Not Ready-to-Eat Breaded, Stuffed Chicken Products — United States, 1998–2022," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, volume 72, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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