WASHINGTON — Federal health officials have retracted a public health alert over frozen chicken nuggets that were originally believed to contain an unsafe level of lead after further laboratory testing.
In a news release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said that Walmart Great Value Fully Cooked Dino Shaped Chicken Breast Nuggets with a “Best If Used By” date of “Feb 10, 2027” do not pose a public health concern.
The nuggets, produced by Dorada Foods, of Ponca City, Oklahoma, and sold nationwide at Walmart locations, were originally part of a public health alert issued on April 1 by the FSIS. The health alert was based on routine sampling conducted by the New York State Department of Public Health.
The FSIS originally said a recall was not issued because the nuggets were no longer on the market, but issued the health alert because they could still be in people’s freezers.
However, the FSIS said that follow-up testing, including an examination of the original lot that had been flagged, found no elevated levels of lead.
The FSIS then reviewed laboratory data in coordination with the New York State Department of Health.
The agency determined that the initial result “was a false positive, caused by sporadic lead contamination at the laboratory during analysis, not contamination of the product itself.”
Follow-up testing confirmed no elevated levels of lead were present in any of the products tested, the FSIS said.
The agency has notified Dorada Foods and has updated its recall/health alert pages.
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