68,000 Pounds of Frozen Chicken Nuggets Recalled Because They May Contain Wood Pieces

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Perdue Foods is recalling nearly 50,000 bags of the company's organic gluten-free chicken breast nuggets because they may be contaminated with wood pieces.
Perdue Foods is recalling nearly 50,000 bags of the company's organic gluten-free chicken breast nuggets because they may be contaminated with wood pieces. (Image credit: USDA)

More than 68,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets are being recalled because they may contain a not-so-tasty ingredient: wood pieces.

On Thursday (Jan. 17), Perdue Foods announced the recall, which involves the company's organic gluten-free chicken breast nuggets, sold under the brand "Perdue SimplySmart Organics," according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The recalled product was produced in October 2018 and has a "Best By" date of Oct. 25, 2019, and a UPC product bar code of 72745-80656. [Top 7 Germs in Food that Make You Sick]

Purdue received complaints from three consumers of wood pieces being found in the product, according to the USDA statement. In addition, one complaint was reported to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

People who bought the recalled product should not consume it, and they should contact Perdue Foods for a full refund, the company said in a statement.

Wood pieces are far from the most bizarre material to be found in processed food. In 2017, McCain Foods USA recalled some of its hash-brown products because they may have contained pieces of golf balls. Also in 2017, a salad product from Fresh Express was recalled because a dead bat was found in a single packaged salad.

In the company's statement, Jeff Shaw, vice president for quality assurance at Purdue, said the company believes only a small number of the nearly 50,000 recalled packages have the potential to contain wood pieces. But "out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to recall all packages of Perdue SimplySmart Organics Gluten Free Chicken Breast Nuggets produced during the same product run."

So far, there have been no reports of injuries tied to the recalled chicken nuggets.

Originally published on Live Science.

Rachael Rettner
Rachael Rettner
Contributor

Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.