If you have recently bought frozen chicken as a food service customer, then grab it quickly and check the brand and dates. Hormel Foods has recalled nearly 5 million pounds of ready-to-eat frozen chicken products as they may be "contaminated with pieces of metal," as per an announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on Saturday.



How were the metal pieces found?






The company based in Austin, Minnesota traced the contamination to metal fragments from a conveyor belt used during production, said the agency. As per FSIS's statement to FOX Business, the metal pieces varied in size, measuring roughly 2mm by 17mm.



The issue was discovered after the company received numerous complaints from foodservice customers, including hotels, restaurants and other organisations that serve food to people, who reported finding metal in their frozen chicken breast and thigh products, as per the agency.



Which products have been recalled?

“Hormel Foods Sales, LLC is voluntarily recalling 215,258 cases, or 4,874,815 total pounds, of five HORMEL® FIRE BRAISEDTM items sent to foodservice operators throughout the United States as they may contain extraneous metal material,” Hormel told FOX Business on Sunday.



The affected items were sold under the HORMEL® FIRE BRAISED™ label and were distributed nationwide from February 10 to September 19, 2025. The recall includes bulk cases of boneless chicken breast and thigh meat weighing 13-24 pounds with the following item codes printed on the labels:



65009

77531

46750

86206

134394



Who should be worried?






Well, both FSIS and Hormel confirmed that the products were not sold in grocery stores or directly to customers. They were sold "to foodservice customers and cannot be purchased directly by consumers. All customers that may have received the affected product have been properly notified,” the company added.



The agency cautioned that some recalled products might still be stored in the freezers of commercial kitchens and it has been conducting routine checks to ensure that the products are no longer available to consumers.



“These businesses are urged not to serve the product,” the agency said in the announcement. “This product should be thrown away.”



Additionally, the company emphasised that no other of its products are affected and no illnesses or injuries have been reported in association with the recall.