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Sausages, Hot Dogs, Bacon, and Other Meats Sold at Walmart and Stop & Shop Recalled

More than 1.5 million pounds of meat may have been stored at an improper temperature

Genoa Hot Ham, Kayem Fenway Franks, Kayem Old Tyme Beef & Pork Franks, Al Fresco Chicken Breakfast Sausage, 
McKenzie Cob Smoked Bacon. Source: USDA

Kayem Foods recalled about 60 ready-to-eat meat products sold at a number of Walmart, Stop & Shop, and other grocery stores along the East Coast after it was discovered that some of the products may not have been properly refrigerated. The recall affects more than 1.5 million pounds of meat. No injuries or illnesses have been reported.

More on food safety

Recalled Kayem products include Kayem Old Tyme Beef & Pork Franks, Kayem Fenway Franks, Genoa Hot Ham, Al Fresco Chicken Breakfast Sausage, McKenzie Cob Smoked Bacon, and other hot dogs, bratwurst, liverwurst, and hams. Recalled products will have establishment number “EST. M/P 7839,” “EST. P 20935A,” or “EST. M 9520” inside the Department of Agriculture mark of inspection stamped on the back.

A full list of all the recalled products is available here, while all the labels, which can be easier to look through, can be found here. 

Kraig Nassaz, a Kayem Foods spokesperson told CR that the company had three fans malfunction in the cooling system in its warehouse and that those have since been repaired or replaced. A retail store noticed its meat was delivered warm and alerted Kayem Foods. 

Although the recall is nationwide, most of the retailers where the affected products were sold are along the Eastern Seaboard and include Walmart and Stop & Shop, along with other grocers.

A spokesperson for Walmart told CR that recalled products were sold in stores located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The spokesperson added that once Walmart learned of the recall, it moved “swiftly to remove the impacted products from our stores and implement a sales block at our registers and online.”

A Stop & Shop representative said recalled products were sold at stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and select stores in Connecticut, and that the grocer had “removed all impacted items from our stores.”

If you have any of these products in your fridge or freezer, throw them out or return them to the store where they were purchased for a refund, says James E. Rogers, PhD, director of food safety testing at CR. “Even cooked meats must be properly refrigerated,” he says.

Consumers with questions can contact Kayem Foods Customer Service at 800-426-6100 or info@kayem.com.

How to Keep Your Food Safe in the Fridge

All foods, including meats and even cooked meats, should be stored at a temperature of about 37° F inside your fridge, Rogers says. 

If your refrigerator doesn’t let you choose a precise temperature, check the manual to see if the numeric settings correspond to particular temperatures, says Paul Hope, deputy home and kitchen editor at CR. While you could get a fridge thermometer, you can also place a bottle of water in the fridge overnight, and then check the temperature of the water using an instant-read thermometer to see how cold your refrigerator is keeping food, and adjust the setting accordingly.


Lisa L. Gill

Lisa L. Gill is an award-winning investigative reporter. She has been at Consumer Reports since 2008, covering health and food safety—heavy metals in the food supply and foodborne illness—plus healthcare and prescription drug costs, medical debt, and credit scores. Lisa also testified before Congress and the Food and Drug Administration about her work on drug costs and drug safety. She lives in a DIY tiny home, where she gardens during the day and stargazes the Milky Way at night.