Trader Joe's is Recalling A Bunch Of Salads Because There Might Be Glass In Them

If you've bought a salad from Trader Joe's in the last few days, you might want to take a peek in your refrigerator. On Saturday, Trader Joe's announced it pulled a selection of its poultry salads off the shelves after discovering that they might contain foreign matter. I know, it sounds incredibly ominous, but the reason why Trader Joe's recalled some of its salads is because there was a risk they might contain glass or hard plastic. "All potentially affected product has been removed from store shelves and destroyed," Trader Joe's said in a press release published Nov. 18.

As of now, three salads are being recalled, and only in certain states. The White Meat Chicken Salad, the Curried White Chicken Deli Salad, and the Turkey Cranberry Apple Salad are the three items that have been recalled. As for now, all other poultry items are safe to eat and have not been listed as potential dangers. So no need to avoid all poultry, especially during prime meat month.

According to Trader Joe's press release, contamination likely occurred at the specific inspection plant where those salads were processed, so luckily there's an easy way to determine if the salads we have in our fridges are affected, as everything is marked by the inspection plant on the packaging. The issue is only present in the following areas: for White Meat Chicken and Curried White Chicken Deli salads: Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. And for Turkey Cranberry Apple salads: Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington states.

"Our supplier has notified us that the following fresh salads — sold only in the states listed — with date codes USE BY 11/10 through 11/21 and the U.S.D.A. "INSPECTED" code P-40299 may contain pieces of glass/hard plastic," Trader Joe's announced.

Of course, biting into a turkey or chicken salad and getting a piece of glass or hard plastic in your mouth could be incredibly harmful, to say the least, which is why the company has acted fast to remove all remaining affected products from the shelves. As a result of the recall, the company is encouraging customers who might have taken home these products to do the same — toss the recalled salads in the trash if they contain the sell-by dates specified on the site, and/or were purchased in one of the states mentioned on the site.

Here's what you need to do to ensure your food is safe as soon as possible:

Check Your Fridge

As mentioned, the only salads affected are the White Meat Chicken Salad, the Curried White Chicken Deli Salad, and the Turkey Cranberry Apple Salad. So, if you have any of those lingering in your fridge and you live in one of the affected states, it's best to play it safe and get rid of them.

Know What States Are Affected

Only certain states have been affected by the "foreign matter" incident. So it's important to check and see if your state has been listed by the company as a potential danger zone. If you bought a poultry salad in Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Idaho, Oregon or Washington, you'll want to check the sku to make sure the salad you have did not come from the affected facility.

Toss it

Again, the salads potentially affected had the use-by dates Nov. 10 to Nov. 21, and the USDA inspected code P-40299. So check your use-by sticker to see if it falls between those dates. Trader Joe's currently believes that it's only these three items that were inspected at this specific facility that are in danger. So if whatever's in your fridge matches any of that criteria, don't even think twice about it, just throw it out and make sure that it goes straight to the trash bin for pick up. With products recalled for reasons of foreign matter — in this case, glass and plastic — you want to make sure you seal and secure even your trash bag to ensure that animals don't get to it.