Vincent Gable’s Blog

This New York Times article explains how dozens of people in several states contracted salmonella after they mistakenly microwaved raw chicken, instead of throughly cooking it in an oven.

According to the Department of Agriculture, the dishes included breaded or pre-browned chicken breasts, some of them stuffed with vegetables or sold as “chicken Kiev” and “chicken cordon bleu.” The appearance of the food led people to assume that the chicken breasts were thoroughly cooked, even though they were still raw or undercooked inside.

According to the USDA alert (emphasis mine)

Although many of these stuffed chicken entrees were labeled with instructions identifying the product was uncooked and did not include microwave instruction for preparation, individuals who became ill did not follow the cooking instructions and reportedly used a microwave to prepare the product.

This is what I would call a failure of labeling. Showing a fully-cooked chicken cordon bleu is clearly more appetizing then a picture of raw meat; but it is not a totally accurate depiction of what’s in the box. I wouldn’t call it unethical in and of itself, but the embellishment should have been offset with a clear indication that the meat was raw. Especially since it’s impossible to tell if a frozen piece of fully-breaded chicken is raw or cooked. If the USDA alert is taken at face value, then only “many”, not all, of the frozen chicken was labeled as raw. That does not seem right.

Unfortunately, no brands were named in the alert. So I can’t comment on the actual designs.