Trader Joe's announced a recall of 5,000 pounds of its store brand Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice, which may be contaminated with listeria bacteria, just months after recalling peanut, cashew and almond butter products linked to salmonella.
The product, Trader Joe's Butter Chicken with Basmanti Rice, was sold to stores in 14 eastern US states and the Washington, D.C. area.
The recall is for 12.5-ounce boxes of Trader Joe's Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice with product code 2012-10-31 and lot code 30512.
The ready-to-eat frozen meals were imported from Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is working with the U.S. Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service on the recall.
The U.S. agency will verify that U.S. companies sent shipments of the recalled products have been notified and have removed them from sale.
"All code dates of this product have been removed from sale and destroyed," Trader Joe's told customers via an update on its website. "To date, we have received no reports of illness related to this product."
"Customers who have purchased this item are urged to not eat it, and to dispose of it or return it to any Trader Joe's for a full refund. Customers with questions may contact Trader Joe's Customer Relations at (626) 599-3817 (Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time). We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience."
About 240 cartons of the butter chicken, which was imported from Canada, have already been distributed to Trader Joe's stores in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Connecticut, Florida, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine and Rhode Island.
Earlier this fall, Trader Joe's was at the center of a massive recall, with dozens of its peanut, cashew and almond butter products linked to salmonella.
