Sep 14, 2011 10:24 AM

As a precautionary measure, Cargill Value Added Meats Retail, a business unit of Wichita KS-based Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, announced an immediate Class I voluntary recall of approximately 185,000 pounds of 85%-lean fresh ground turkey products produced at the company’s Springdale AR facility August 23, 24, 30, and 31, 2011, due to possible contamination from Salmonella Heidelberg.

Cargill is initiating this recall as a result of one confirmed test sample taken by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) during a post-August 3 recall review of the processing facility, which yielded low levels of the same Salmonella Heidelberg strain that appears to match the strain previously associated with human illness.

The firm has voluntarily suspended production of ground turkey products at its Springdale turkey processing facility until additional corrective actions, incremental to those implemented as the result of the August 3 recall, can be identified by the company and reviewed and approved by USDA. Other turkey products produced at Springdale are not part of the recall. Cargill owns four turkey processing facilities in the United States, and no products from the other three are involved in the recall.

Salmonella is a common bacteria with about 2,400 different strains, the vast majority not harmful to humans. It is commonly found in plants, animals, water, soil, and humans.

Cargill is contacting its customers to make certain they know which of their ground turkey products are affected by this recall. Consumers are urged to return any opened or unopened packages of ground turkey items listed on Cargill’s ground turkey recall website (www.cargill.com/turkey-recall) to stores where they were purchased for a full refund. Consumers with questions about recalled ground turkey products may contact Cargill’s consumer relations toll-free telephone number (1-888-812-1646).