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Nationwide Hot Dog Recall Announced Over Listeria Fears

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 06:53 PST, Jul 20, 2016

A voluntary recall of nearly 400,000 pounds of hot dog and corn dog products is now underway in all 50 states as a precaution.

Bar-S Foods, an Oklahoma company, is recalling its chicken and pork hot dogs as well as corn dogs in designated production runs during a four-day window owing to concerns about potential Listeria contamination. Test results are not yet available, and so far, no consumer has gotten sick from eating them, however.

“Before you put the hot dogs on the grill for the next summer barbecue, check out to see if the food is impacted in the latest recall,” ABC affiliate WWSB advised.

BBQ fans should note that the potentially infected franks already shipped to various supermarkets and other retail outlets were made on July 10-13, 2016, and contain the label “EST. P-81A” inside the USDA inspection mark.

In a news release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the hot dog recall and provided further specifics.

“Bar-S Foods notified FSIS’ Dallas District Office on July 19, 2016, of its intention to recall five chicken and pork hot dog and corn dog products that could potentially be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The firm has not received test results for Listeria monocytogenes in connection with the recalled products, but due to recurring Listeria species issues at the firm, it has decided to remove the products from commerce as a precautionary measure. There have been no confirmed reports of illnesses or adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.”

In response to the wiener warning from the federal government, check your refrigerator for any of these Bar-S products. Authorities advise consumers who have purchased any of the affected hot dogs for summer cookouts or any other reason to toss them out, or bring them back to the store for a refund.

Products mentioned in the recall notice include 16-oz/1-lb. packages of Bar-S Classic bun length franks made with chicken, pork added, 12 oz. packages of Bar-S Classic franks made with chicken, pork added, and three varieties of corn dogs. Certain use-by dates and case codes apply; please refer to the above news release link or the Bar-S press release for details on what to look for on the packaging.

According to WebMD, listeria or food poisoning, i.e., food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, brings with it a variety of nasty symptoms including “fever, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea or diarrhea. If infection spreads to the nervous system, symptoms such as headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or convulsions can occur.”

Those most at risk from listeriosis apparently are newborns, pregnant women, seniors, and adults with compromised immune systems. Healthy adults and kids usually avoid a serious symptomatic response after becoming infected with L. monocytogenes bacteria, WebMD suggested.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) weighed in, as it were, on Twitter about the huge hot dog recall.

By coincidence, the hot dog recall comes about a week after National Hot Dog Day. As the Inquisitr previously explained, hot dogs (and to a lesser extent, corn dogs) are very important to American life and play a huge role in our culture. You can find hot dogs at sporting events, barbecues, picnics, county fairs, on grills, at concerts, in restaurants, and outside your workplace in carts. Hot dogs are an integral part of the July 4 festivities, most notably the annual hot dog eating contest at Nathan’s in Coney Island, New York.

Back in April 2014, Oscar Mayer recalled 96,000 pounds of hot dogs as a result of mislabeling. According to ABC News at the time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service reportedly determined that Kraft’s “Oscar Mayer Classic Wiener” might instead have been “Oscar Mayer Classic Cheese Dogs.”

[Photo by Patrick Semansky/AP Images]

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