Hormel Recalls Nearly 5 Million Pounds of Chicken After Metal Found in Products

Nearly five million pounds of frozen chicken. That is the scale of a single October 2025 recall by Hormel Foods after foodservice customers across the country reported finding pieces of metal in their chicken products, tracing the contamination to a malfunctioning conveyor belt in the production facility.

The Recall

On October 25, 2025, Hormel Foods Corporation issued a recall for approximately 4,874,815 pounds of foodservice ready-to-eat frozen chicken products that may be contaminated with pieces of metal. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service classified this as a Class I recall, meaning there is a reasonable probability that consuming the product will cause serious adverse health consequences.

The recalled products include several varieties of boneless chicken breast and thigh items sold under the Hormel brand, including "Hormel FIRE BRAISED MEATS ALL NATURAL BONELESS CHICKEN BREAST" and related boneless chicken products. These items were produced and distributed to hotels, restaurants, and institutional foodservice locations nationwide between February 10, 2025, and September 19, 2025.

How Metal Ended Up in Chicken

The contamination source was a conveyor belt used in the production line. As the belt degraded over months of operation, fragments of metal separated from the belt and mixed into the chicken products during processing. Hormel identified the root cause after receiving multiple complaints from foodservice customers who discovered metal pieces in the frozen chicken.

This type of equipment-related contamination is not uncommon in large-scale food manufacturing. Conveyor belts, grinders, slicers, and other processing equipment undergo significant wear during continuous operation. When maintenance checks fail to catch degradation early enough, foreign material can enter the food supply.

Consumers May Have Already Eaten It

One concerning aspect of this recall is its distribution channel. These products were sold to hotels, restaurants, and institutional foodservice operations, not directly to consumers in retail packaging. This means diners at restaurants, hotel guests, hospital patients, school cafeteria visitors, and other institutional food consumers may have eaten the affected chicken products without any way to know.

The products had been in distribution for over seven months before the recall was announced. The USDA expressed concern that some products may still be stored in freezers at these foodservice locations and urged businesses to check their inventory and dispose of any affected products rather than serving them.

October 2025 Recall Context

The Hormel recall was part of a broader month of food safety actions in October 2025. The USDA's FSIS recalled seven food products and issued two health alerts during the month. Three of the recalls involved possible foreign matter contamination, three addressed potential Listeria contamination, and one concerned extraneous material. Both health alerts were also related to Listeria.

E.A. Sween Company also recalled approximately 127,887 pounds of pulled pork sandwiches that may have contained pieces of plastic, with products produced between January and October 2025. These concurrent recalls highlight ongoing challenges with foreign material contamination in the American food supply chain.

What You Can Do

If you operate or manage a foodservice establishment, check frozen chicken inventory for Hormel products with the affected item codes and production dates between February and September 2025. Contact Hormel Foods Customer Relations at 1-800-523-4635 for specific product identification help.

For consumers, this recall is a reminder that food safety extends beyond the kitchen. The meals served at restaurants, hotels, and institutions pass through long supply chains where equipment failures, cross-contamination, and processing errors can introduce hazards that individual diners cannot see or detect.

Sources

1. FSIS/USDA - "Hormel Foods Corporation Recalls Ready-To-Eat Frozen Chicken Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination" - October 25, 2025. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/hormel-foods-corporation-recalls-ready-eat-frozen-chicken-products-due-possible
2. Newsweek - "Nearly 5 million pounds of chicken recalled over contamination fears" - October 2025. https://www.newsweek.com/five-million-pounds-chicken-recalled-metal-contamination-hormel-10944579
3. Food Network - "Almost 5 Million Pounds of Chicken Have Been Recalled Nationwide" - October 2025. https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/hormel-chicken-recall-october-2025
4. Food Safety News - "Hormel recalls almost 5 million pounds of chicken after complaints about metal in product" - October 2025. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/10/hormel-recalls-almost-5-million-pounds-of-chicken-after-complaints-about-metal-in-product/
5. US News - "Hormel Recalls 4.87M Pounds of Frozen Chicken for Possible Metal" - October 28, 2025. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-10-28/hormel-recalls-4-87m-pounds-of-frozen-chicken-for-possible-metal