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Major frozen chicken recall after salmonella illnesses

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NEW YORK -- Several million pounds of frozen chicken are being recalled after 11 people got sick from salmonella. Aspen Foods is recalling nearly two million pounds of frozen chicken after three people became ill in Minnesota, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This follows another recently expanded recall by Barber Foods of Portland, Maine, which is recalling 1.7 million pounds of frozen chicken because of reports of eight people became ill with salmonella in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The USDA said in a statement that it was concerned that "some product may be in consumers' freezers."

The Aspen Foods recall applies to raw, breaded stuffed chicken breasts manufactured from April 15 to July 10, according to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service and Koch Poultry Company of Chicago, which owns Aspen.

The chicken labels say "best if used by" July 14, 2016, and Oct. 10, 2016. Koch said the recall applies to breaded cordon bleu, breaded broccoli and cheese, breaded chicken Kiev, breaded chicken Parmesan and breaded buffalo-style chicken.

The Barber Foods recall applies to frozen, raw chicken products produced between Feb. 17 and May 20, and also on Jan. 29. The USDA said the recall specifically applies to 2-pound, 4-oz. boxes of "premium entrees breaded-boneless raw stuffed chicken breasts with meat Kiev."

The USDA said that some consumers might not realize the chicken products are raw, and that they might not be cooking them thoroughly enough to kill the salmonella bacteria. Symptoms of the illness include diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within 12 to 72 hours after exposure to the bacteria.