Check the hot dog and bacon drawer: Kayem, Al Fresco, McKenzie and Genoa products are recalled over a warm warehouse

If there is a package of Fenway Franks, Al Fresco chicken sausage or McKenzie bacon in your refrigerator, pull it out and read the label before dinner. Kayem Foods of Chelsea, Massachusetts, the company behind all three brands, has recalled roughly 1.58 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry because a cooler at one of its warehouses stopped holding temperature. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the recall Saturday, October 17, in its highest-risk category.

What happened

Kayem says a cooling system malfunction at one of its warehouses caused “storage temperature deviations” for products stored and shipped between June 7 and October 14. The problem surfaced when a retail customer complained about warm product at delivery on October 1, and the company’s investigation found the cooler deviations. Nothing has tested positive for bacteria and no one is reported sick; the recall is about the time the products spent too warm, since Listeria and other bacteria can grow in cooked meat that is not kept cold.

The products

Kayem’s own list of affected items runs to 68 products across its brands, identified by UPC code and a range of best-before dates. The items you are most likely to have in the house:

• Kayem Natural Casing Old Tyme beef and pork or beef frankfurters, Kayem beef and pork hot dogs, Kayem beef hot dogs, Fenway Franks (14 oz), Kayem Minis cocktail franks, Kayem Small Batch thick cut bacons, beef kielbasa and bratwurst.
• Al Fresco fully cooked chicken sausage in nearly every flavor (spinach and feta, roasted garlic, sweet Italian, sweet apple, roasted pepper and asiago, hot honey, andouille and others), chicken breakfast sausage links and patties, chicken meatballs and oven roasted turkey breast.
• McKenzie cob smoked bacon, roasted bacon, natural casing franks, liverwurst, roast beef, uncured hams and turkey breasts.
• Genoa Hot Ham, Triple M hams including the Budaball, and the Deutschmacher, Jordan’s, Essem and Winnisimmet St. Butchery labels.

Every recalled package carries one of three establishment numbers inside the USDA mark of inspection: EST. M/P 7839, EST. P 20935A or EST. M 9520. Production dates run from about March 31 through October 7, and best-before dates on the list reach into December and, for some hams, January and February. That is the part to take seriously: a package bought weeks ago and tucked in the freezer is exactly what the agency is worried about. “FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers,” the notice says.

A brand name alone does not mean a package is recalled. Match the UPC and the date against the list.

What to do

• Do not eat it. Throw it out or return it to the store for a refund.
• Check a second freezer in the garage or basement.
• If you bought deli trays, sandwiches or catered food that might have used these brands, ask the seller.
• Anyone pregnant, over 65 or with a weakened immune system who ate one of these products and develops fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck or confusion should call a doctor.

Kayem’s customer service line is 800-426-6100, weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., or info@kayem.com. The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline is 888-674-6854 or MPHotline@usda.gov.

The full lists are the places to check: Kayem’s affected product list with UPCs and date ranges, and the USDA’s product list and label images, which run longer than the company’s because they count every size and case pack.

Sources: Kayem Foods’ voluntary recall notice dated October 16, 2026 and its affected product list, which we read in full; the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service’s recall announcement 026-2026 of October 17, as reported by WGCU and Medical Daily; and a reader who flagged the recall. The brand list in the photo going around Facebook matches the company’s list.