Millions of cans of Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea tuna recalled

When consumers in Pittsburgh peruse their supermarket shelves, it is a good bet that they take for granted that the products for sale are safe. However, when a product turns out to be defective or otherwise unsafe, the manufacturer may not find out or realize until days or weeks after the fact — after the products have already shipped to stores and may be in people’s homes.

This appears to be the case with a giant recall of canned tuna that was announced recently. The recall includes two well-known brands: Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea. The companies reported that a plant was apparently improperly sealing the cans. While the company says the problem has been fixed going forward, the recall affects as many as 3 million cans of tuna that may not be properly sealed, spoiling the fish inside and making people sick if they consume it.

The affected cans include about 2.4 million cans with Bumble Bee labels and another 600,000 from Chicken of the Sea. The tuna was all canned at the same Bumble Bee plant; Chicken of the Sea says that it uses third-party suppliers on occasion.

People who have purchased one of these brands since mid-January can go to the website of the Food and Drug Administration to determine if the cans they have are in the recall. To date there have been no reports of illnesses, but if anyone has gotten sick from bad fish, they may wish to consult with a personal injury attorney to determine their next steps.

Source: USA Today, “Tuna recall expands to more than 3 million cans,” Kim Painter, March 9, 2013