Tag Archives: Butterball

Not as simple as just cook it: Ground turkey linked to Salmonella illnesses prompt Butterball recall

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I use a lot of ground turkey – it’s my preferred ground meat for tacos and homemade burgers and tomato sauce. I switched to turkey when my kids were younger (because I was so much more freaked out about STECs, it was one way to manage the risk).

A year ago we did some work with RTI for FSIS on ground turkey preparation and during our observations found that cross-contamination could be a particularly an issue (to spice bottles and other areas).

Yesterday Butterball recalled over 75k lbs of ground turkey products after being linked to a Salmonella Schwarzengrund outbreak investigation.

FSIS and public health partners, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, have been investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Schwarzengrund illnesses involving 5 case patients from 2 states. Wisconsin collected three intact Butterball brand ground turkey samples from a residence where 4 of the case patients live. The case patients and ground turkey Salmonella Schwarzengrund isolates are closely related, genetically.

Butterball, LLC, a Mount Olive, N.C. establishment, is recalling approximately 78,164 pounds of raw ground turkey products that may be contaminated with Salmonella Schwarzengrund, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The prepacked raw ground turkey was produced on July 7, 2018. The following products are subject to recall: [View Labels (PDF only)]

48-oz. plastic wrapped tray containing “BUTTERBALL everyday Fresh Ground Turkey WITH NATURAL FLAVORING (85% LEAN/15% FAT)” with sell or freeze by date of 7/26/18, lot code 8188, and UPC codes 22655-71555 or 22655-71557 represented on the label.
48-oz. plastic wrapped tray containing “BUTTERBALL everyday Fresh Ground Turkey WITH NATURAL FLAVORING (93% LEAN/7% FAT)” with sell or freeze by date of 7/26/18, lot code 8188 and UPC code 22655-71556 represented on the label.
16-oz. plastic wrapped tray containing “BUTTERBALL everyday Fresh Ground Turkey WITH NATURAL FLAVORING (85% LEAN/15% FAT)” with sell or freeze by date of 7/26/18, lot code 8188 and UPC code 22655-71546 represented on the label.
16-oz. plastic wrapped tray containing “BUTTERBALL everyday Fresh Ground Turkey WITH NATURAL FLAVORING (93% LEAN/7% FAT)” with sell or freeze by date of 7/26/18, lot code 8188 and UPC codes 22655-71547 or 22655-71561 represented on the label
48-oz. plastic wrapped tray containing “Kroger GROUND TURKEY FRESH 85% LEAN – 15% FAT” with sell or freeze by date of 7/26/18, lot code 8188, and UPC code 111141097993 represented on the label.
48-oz. plastic wrapped tray containing “FOOD LION 15% fat ground turkey with natural flavorings” with sell or freeze by date of 7/26/18, lot code 8188 and UPC code 3582609294 represented on the label.
The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. P-7345” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to institutional and retail locations nationwide.

Top-10 turkey questions the Butterball hotline has ever been asked

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Butterball’s Talk-Line has helped confused cooks with Thanksgiving turkey prep since its inception 35 years ago — and while the service has successfully churned out thousands of responses to common questions, which the company so

botterball.hotline1.So I’m looking at a turkey from 1969 sitting here in my father’s freezer … any tips on the best way to cook a 30-year-old bird?

The Talk-Line suggested the man throw out the old turkey and purchase a new one. Then, the Talk-Line suggested to cook the turkey in the open roasting pan method.

  1. How do I roast my turkey so it gets golden brown tan lines — in the shape of a turkey bikini?

The experts helped to create a “bikini look” by using aluminum foil in certain places on the turkey.

  1. How to carve a turkey when all of its bones have been broken?
  2. I carved my turkey with a chainsaw … is the chain grease going to adversely affect my turkey?
  3. Why does my turkey have no breast meat?

A disappointed woman called wondering why her turkey had no breast meat. After a conversation with a Talk-Line operator, it became apparent that the woman’s turkey was lying on the table upside down.

  1. It’s my first Thanksgiving and I have a tiny apartment-sized oven … how much will my turkey expand when cooking?
  2. How do I get my turkey to stop sudsing? Is a soapy turkey recoverable?

A first-time Thanksgiving chef called after she had washed her turkey with dish soap. You don’t have to clean your turkey, simply pat the extra juices dry with paper towels before stuffing or roasting the turkey.

  1. For the sake of delicious smells, can I cook my turkey over the course of four days?

The Talk-Line doesn’t recommend slow-cooking your turkey over the course of multiple days. You are able to use a slow cooker if needed, but experts would recommend 6-8 hours in the slow cooker. If cooking in the oven, it should only take a few hours to cook.

  1. How do I baste a pre-basted turkey?

Some folks love to baste the turkey while it’s cooking. If you’re one of them, the Talk-Line suggests basting only a few times during the cooking process so you don’t continuously let out the heat of the oven.

  1. My turkey thawed on my lap … can I eat it?

A gentleman won a turkey at the casino, and brought it home on the bus where it had thawed. The safest way to thaw your turkey is in the refrigerator — it takes one day for every four pounds of turkey.

Talking turkey with Butterball’s hotline

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This is the first American Thanksgiving I’ll be away from Amy, but it’s not such a big deal because it’s too damn hot in Brisbane at this time of year.

turkey.headWe used to run the food safety hotline in Canada, and had all the inquiries you could imagine.

So do the staff at Butterball’s Turkey Talk-Line.

What started in 1981 as a group of six home economists answering calls has grown into a staff of more than 50 food and nutrition experts answering questions via phone, email, online chats and social media.

The hotline is open from early November to the day before Christmas and receives more than 100,000 questions per year. But, not surprisingly, the volume of questions peaks on Thanksgiving day, when the group answers more than 12,000 calls, Sue Smith, co-director of Butterball’s Turkey Talk-line, told USA TODAY Network.

Some of the questions:

• A mother returned home from work to find her husband thawing a frozen turkey in the bathtub while simultaneously washing up the kids. “The kids were like, ‘The water’s cold!’ because, you know, it’s a frozen turkey,” Smith said.

• A woman called the Talk-Line whispering her questions. When asked to speak up, the newlywed explained she was hiding in the closet from her mother-in-law, whom she was trying to impress.

• A young man hosting his first Thanksgiving called the Talk-Line while in a grocery store. A turkey expert stayed on the phone as he walked the aisle, advising him of all the items he’d need to buy.

• A landlord called panicked because his oven was too small to cook a turkey. He eventually was able to “rent” one from a tenant for $25. He thought he’d have to interrupt them every 10 minutes to baste it, but called the Talk-Line to learn that Butterball turkeys come pre-basted.

butterball• A woman lost power one hour into cooking her turkey and called the Talk-Line. The hotline talked her through transferring her turkey to her gas grill to continue cooking. What accounted for the outage? The caller’s neighbor had crashed into a power line while hang gliding.

But not all calls are quite that dramatic.

“How do I thaw my turkey?” is the most commonly asked question, according to Smith. One way is to put it in your refrigerator several days before Thanksgiving. It take one day for every 4 pounds, Smith said. But if it’s too late for that approach, the fastest way is to thaw it in water.

Butterball ramps up the cute, makes consumers the critical control point

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I also never watched the West Wing, but am familiar with the Buterball hotline episode (see below) which has a special place in food safety pop culture, if there can be such a thing.

Yesterday, Butterball, LLC, the nation’s largest turkey producer, celebrated food safety month through a children’s coloring contest and a series of employee challenges at the company’s Mount Olive, N.C. facility. As part of the company’s commitment to providing healthy, wholesome products to consumers, these activities helped raise awareness of proper hand-washing, food preparation and illness prevention techniques.

(I thought food safety month was in Sept.?)

That’s nice, but rather than making consumers the critical control point, why doesn’t Butterball make its data on salmonella and campylobacter testing publicly available. Put some video cameras in the slaughter and processing facilities so people can see how turkeys are prepared for consumers.

Anita Colglazier, director of quality further processing at Butterball said,

“Butterball is a proud leader in food quality and safety and continually strives to strengthen its food safety programs to ensure its products are 100 percent safe for consumers.”

The facility hosted a coloring contest for the children of facility employees. While at work, associates participated in a hand washing challenge using “magic glowing bug lotion” and a black light enabling employees to see firsthand the areas that need extra scrubbing. Additionally, the facility posted food safety facts throughout the building to provide healthy tips for employees.

Coloring contests are cute; foodborne illness isn’t. Show me the data.

Cook the turkey to 165F, but what about the handwashing? And I thought turkeys could fly – WKRP edition

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Handwashing maven Michéle Samarya-Timm of the Somerset County Health Department (New Jersey, represent), writes:

 Thanksgiving…time for perennial traditions in my home such as laying out the thermometers, refilling the soap dispenser in the kitchen and bath, and gathering some videos for family-friendly viewing. Amidst perennial favorites such as Miracle on 34th Street, and WKRP’s Turkeys Away classic (“as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly…”), I came upon a new gem (new to me, anyway) – The West Wing Season 3 episode Indians in the Lobby.

In preparing for Thanksgiving, President Bartlet calls the Butterball Turkey Talk Line for credible food safety information. This script had the president talking about cooking the stuffing to 165 degrees F, “If I cook it inside the turkey, is there a chance I could kill my guests? I’m not saying that’s necessarily a deal-breaker,” and admitting to owning an accurate thermometer. He raved about the ease of getting food safety information via a phone call – a wonderful, glowing endorsement for the professionals at Butterball.

This Thanksgiving episode did what it was obviously intended to do… it inspired me to call Butterball (1-800-Butterball), and pose my own food safety question. I know that the Talk Line helps individuals with proper cooking directions, but does anyone call to inquire about handwashing? Lots of food being prepared should equate to lots of hands being washed….right? And lots of questions on how to do it safely? With food and dishes migrating in and out of the kitchen sink during the flow of preparations, how does one assure clean hands without lathering up over the food?

The perky lady who answered Butterball Turkey Hotline told me she, too, was a public health professional. Since she started in 1985, she didn’t recall ever receiving a query specific to handwashing. After assuring her I wasn’t a crackpot, she connected me with specialist Alice Coffey, who was happy to chat with me about food safety. Ms. Coffey was wonderfully knowledgeable, and able to seamlessly insert food safety tidbits into the conversation. Handwashing reminders are included with the safe food handling label on the breast, back or butt of every turkey. And Butterball will advise callers to wash their hands when they call to ask about routine and off-the-wall turkey preparations. But calling just to ask about Thanksgiving handwashing? Yup, seems like I’m the first.

I’m thankful that Butterball, bites.ksu.edu, USDA and others are continuing to find ways to provide credible food safety information out to the populace. And I’m thankful this year that I still have a job in public health. But until handwashing questions, knowledge and behaviors become as much a part of our lives as the Thanksgiving turkey, I’ll also thankfully continue as a Clean Hands Pilgrim.

DP says, best part of the turkey scene from WKRP is after the turkeys crash to the ground from the helicopter, DJ Johnny Fever spins  one of my favorite Credence Clearwater Revival tunes, It Came Out of the Sky.