Whitson’s Food Service (Bronx) Corp. recalls frozen, ready-to-cook pasta products

The recall is due to misbranding and undeclared allergens.

Courtesy of the USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing that Whitson’s Food Service (Bronx) Corp., an Islandia, New York, establishment, is recalling approximately 8,713 pounds of frozen, ready-to-cook chicken alfredo with broccoli and penne pasta meals due to misbranding and undeclared allergens. The product contains egg, a known allergen, which is not declared on the product label.

The frozen, ready-to-cook chicken alfredo with broccoli and penne pasta meals were produced on Jan. 25, 2023, and Jan. 31, 2023. The following products are subject to recall:

13.7-pound boxes containing 30 plastic trays of 7.3-ounce meals containing “Chicken Alfredo with Broccoli & Penne Pasta” with a best if used by date of 1/25/24, product code number 903419 and lot number W01252308897
13.7-pound boxes containing 30 plastic trays of 7.3-ounce meals containing “Chicken Strips over WW Penne Pasta with Alfredo Sauce & Broccoli” with a best if used by of date 1/31/24, product code number 403127 and lot number W01312307698

The products subject to recall bear establishment number “P-32073” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to institutional locations, including schools, in New York and Pennsylvania. While the product was distributed to schools, it was through a commercial sale and was not part of the food provided by the USDA for the National School Lunch Program.

The problem was discovered when the producing establishment received a consumer complaint and notified FSIS. The establishment investigated and determined that they updated the product formulation with a sauce containing egg, but the information was not provided to the nutrition department that creates the product labels. As a result, the immediate product labels do not list egg as an allergen, and the case labels do not list egg in the ingredient statement.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.

FSIS is concerned that some product may be in institutional freezers. Institutions are urged not to serve these products. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers.

Consumers with questions about the recall can contact An-Marie Jon, customer service manager for Whitson’s Food Service (Bronx) Corp., at 631-424-2700, ext. 212 or at customerservice@whitsons.com. Members of the media with questions about the recall can contact Karen Dittrich, director of marketing for Whitson’s Food Service (Bronx) Corp., at 631-424-2700, ext. 220 or at pr@whitsons.com.

Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.

Source: USDA's FSIS