GraceKennedy addresses USDA alert over illegally imported Vienna sausages
Key Points(5)
- GraceKennedy Foods has clarified that Jamaica-manufactured Grace chicken Vienna sausages entered the United States outside its authorised distribution channels after U.S.
- authorities issued a public health alert for the products, which were illegally imported from Jamaica.
- Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued the alert on Oct.
- 6 for 140-gram cans of Grace Ready to Eat Chicken Vienna Sausages and Grace Ready to Eat Chicken Vienna Sausages Hot & Spicy.
- The affected products bear the establishment number “EST.
GraceKennedy Foods has clarified that Jamaica-manufactured Grace chicken Vienna sausages entered the United States outside its authorised distribution channels after U.S. authorities issued a public health alert for the products, which were illegally imported from Jamaica.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued the alert on Oct. 6 for 140-gram cans of Grace Ready to Eat Chicken Vienna Sausages and Grace Ready to Eat Chicken Vienna Sausages Hot & Spicy.
The affected products bear the establishment number “EST. NO G-01” inside the Jamaica mark of inspection and were distributed to retail locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland and Texas.
FSIS said Jamaica is not eligible to export meat or poultry products to the United States. The agency discovered the issue during routine surveillance of imported products and is investigating how the sausages entered the country.
No illnesses or injuries have been confirmed in connection with the products. However, FSIS has urged consumers who purchased the affected sausages not to eat them and to discard them or return them to the place of purchase.
In a statement issued following the alert, GraceKennedy Foods said it does not export Jamaica-manufactured Grace chicken Vienna sausages to the United States and has not authorised any person or entity to do so on its behalf.
The company said it operates in compliance with U.S. regulatory requirements and that any Jamaica-manufactured products entering the U.S. market did so outside its authorised export and distribution channels.
GraceKennedy also distinguished the affected products from those it distributes in the United States, saying its U.S.-market Grace Vienna sausages are manufactured at facilities that comply with USDA requirements.
The company said its Jamaican meat-processing facility, which manufactures the chicken Vienna sausages, is FSSC 22000 certified and exports to approved markets across the Caribbean in accordance with their regulatory requirements.
GraceKennedy said the USDA alert concerned the products’ unauthorised entry into the United States and did not identify a specific contamination or food-safety defect.
FSIS has nevertheless advised consumers not to consume the affected products. Consumers concerned about a possible illness or injury should contact a health care provider. The agency has published images of the affected labels on its website.
