Kayem Foods is recalling 1.58 million pounds of hot dogs and deli meats

Kayem Foods is recalling 1,584,361 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry items that could have sat at unsafe temperatures in storage, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The Chelsea, Massachusetts, company sent the products to stores and foodservice outlets throughout the U.S. as well as to Hong Kong.

FSIS announced the recall on Oct. 17. The recalled items bear one of three establishment numbers, "EST. M/P 7839," "EST. P 20935A" or "EST. M 9520," within the federal inspection seal. The agency has posted a list of products and UPC codes under Recall 026-2026.

The products include hot dogs, bacon, sausage, turkey breasts and hams, and the list covers more than 100 items, according to Medical Daily, which said FSIS gave the recall a Class I designation, its highest-risk category.

FSIS said the problem surfaced after Kayem received a retail customer complaint on Oct. 1 about warm product at delivery. The company investigated and traced the problem to a warehouse cooler where several products had been kept and where temperatures had strayed from the proper range.

Kayem announced a voluntary recall on Oct. 16 and attributed the problem to a cooling system malfunction at one of its warehouses. The two announcements give different date ranges. FSIS said the products were produced from about March 31 to Oct. 7, 2026. Kayem said the affected products were stored and shipped between June 7 and Oct. 14, 2026.

There have been no verified illness reports to date, FSIS said. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider. Medical Daily reported that FSIS has not disclosed any test result showing Listeria or any other pathogen in the products.

FSIS said consumers may still have some of the affected product in their home refrigerators. It urged people who bought the products to avoid eating them and instead discard them or take them back to the store where they were purchased. Kayem said it is contacting its wholesale and retail customers with instructions to identify and dispose of the recalled products.

"Our business depends on providing consumers with safe food of the highest quality," Kayem Foods President and CEO Matt Monkiewicz said in a statement. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are undertaking this voluntary recall."

Monkiewicz also said in the statement that the company's management team takes full responsibility and has corrected the issue.

Consumers can reach Kayem Foods Customer Service at 800-426-6100 or info@kayem.com, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern. The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline is available at 888-674-6854 or MPHotline@usda.gov.