Holiday barbecues impacted by Foster Farms chicken recall

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's one of the biggest barbecue days of the year, and among the top foods families are throwing on the grill this Fourth of July is chicken.

One family at Woodward Park on Friday said the Foster Farms recall was a major factor in what meat they chose to cook this holiday.

Many of them heard about the recall on Thursday night as they were preparing the food for their picnic at the park. Even though it's the company's first recall tied to a 16-month outbreak of salmonella, the Jackson family said they didn't want to take any chances with their family's safety -- taking extra precautions to make sure they couldn't get sick from any of the company's products.

"Well we made sure we didn't get Foster Farms. Laughs and the ones who already got their chicken made sure to check it out. It wasn't Foster Farms," said Geri Dixon of Fresno.

Instead the family chose to buy brands like Zacky Farms and Sampson, even though the recall is for chicken with the "use or freeze by" dates ranging from March 21st and March 29th, and does not affect chicken currently being sold in stores.

Nico Crider and his friends purchased their poultry straight from the meat counter at Von's after Foster Farms issued the recall.

According to the company -- the poultry was produced at three sites, including Fresno, and is identifiable on packaging with the plant codes P-6137, P-6137A and P-7632. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service says the illness that prompted the recall was tied to a 10-year-old in California who was hospitalized.

In a written statement to Action News, the company said: "This recall is prompted by a single illness associated with specific fresh chicken product, but in the fullest interest of food safety, Foster Farms has broadened the recall to encompass all products packaged at that time."