Hot dogs, bacon, ham and chicken sausage from eight brands sat in a warehouse cooler that ran warm. Here’s how to check the packages already in your fridge or freezer.
Check the hot dogs in your freezer before the next cookout.
Kayem Foods, the Chelsea, Massachusetts, company known for Fenway Franks, is recalling about 1,584,361 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced it Saturday, Oct. 17.
The products may not have been kept cold enough in storage. It’s a Class I recall, the agency’s most serious kind, and it covers dozens of items people tend to stock up on for game days and holiday parties.
Here’s what’s included and how to tell if you have any.
What products are in the Kayem recall?
Fully cooked meats made between March 31 and Oct. 7, 2026, AARP reported. The list is long:
Hot dogs and franks, including beef, lower sodium, skinless and red hot dogs.
Chicken sausages in apple, maple, roasted pepper, spinach and feta, garlic, jalapeno, Italian style, andouille and breakfast flavors.
Bacon, including thick cut, applewood smoked, maple and slab.
Ham, including honey, black forest, tavern, smoked and boneless ham steaks.
Turkey breast, including oven roasted, smoked, maple honey and hickory smoked.
Kielbasa, bratwurst, bologna, liverwurst, corned beef, meatballs, breakfast patties and meat loaves.
The Boston Globe also listed beef brisket among the recalled items.
Which brands are part of the Kayem recall?
Eight, according to AARP: Kayem, Al Fresco, McKenzie, Triple M, Deutschmacher, Jordan’s, Essem and Winnisimmet St. Butchery.
Click2Houston’s report also listed Genoa. So if you buy any of these names, give the package a second look.
How do I check if my hot dogs are recalled?
Find the USDA mark of inspection on the package. Inside it, look for one of these establishment numbers:
EST. M/P 7839
EST. P 20935A
EST. M 9520
The recall covers so many sizes and UPC codes that the brand name alone won’t tell you much. FSIS posted a full product list with photos of every label on its recalls page.
Where were the recalled Kayem products sold?
Pretty much everywhere. The meats went to stores and food service locations nationwide, plus some in Hong Kong, according to the USDA.
AARP reported that select Walmart stores in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont carried them. Market Basket also posted a recall notice for several Kayem products.
FSIS said it will post store lists when they’re available. Don’t assume those are the only stores, though.
Why were Kayem hot dogs and deli meats recalled?
It started with a warm delivery. On Oct. 1, a retail customer complained that products were warm when they arrived, the USDA said.
Kayem looked into it and found that a warehouse cooler holding a range of ready-to-eat products had temperature problems. The company blamed a cooling system malfunction and said it’s been fixed.
Everything in the recall shipped between June 7 and Oct. 14, the company said in its statement, as reported by the Boston Globe.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are undertaking this voluntary recall,” Kayem president and CEO Matt Monkiewicz said in a statement.
“Our management team takes full responsibility,” he added. “We have learned from and corrected the issue and will not allow this to happen again.”
Has anyone gotten sick from the Kayem recall?
No illnesses had been confirmed as of the Oct. 17 announcement.
FSIS is still worried, though. A lot of these products, especially hot dogs and ham, can sit in a freezer for a long time, the Boston Globe noted. That means some of the recalled meat could still be in kitchens long after it left store shelves.
What does a Class I recall mean?
It means there’s a reasonable chance that eating the product could cause serious health problems or death, Click2Houston explained. That’s the highest risk level FSIS uses.
Meat stored too warm can let harmful bacteria grow, even in fully cooked products.
What should I do with recalled Kayem products?
Don’t eat them. FSIS says to throw them away or take them back to the store where you bought them.
If you’re worried that you got sick, call your doctor.
You can reach Kayem’s customer service at 800-426-6100, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern. The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline is 888-674-6854.
So before the Halloween party or the next tailgate, dig out the bacon and the franks and flip them over. It takes a minute.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
AARP, reviewed by Aaron Kassraie (Oct. 19, 2026), the products, brands, establishment numbers and stores
Click2Houston, Ninfa Saavedra and Brittany Jeffers (Oct. 20, 2026), the exact poundage, the Class I explanation and the Genoa brand
Boston Globe, Claire Thornton (Oct. 19, 2026), the CEO’s statement, the shipping dates and the freezer concern
Gray News (Oct. 19, 2026), the production dates and brand list
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.