Ready-to-eat wraps show why food safety must follow every ingredient interface

The U.S. investigation into an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with chilled ready-to-eat multi-ingredient chicken wraps underlines a critical distinction: a product containing chicken does not, by itself, identify chicken as the source of contamination. The FDA currently lists 38 cases connected to the outbreak. The USDA-regulated wraps were proactively removed from the market before the link was confirmed and were no longer for sale or within shelf life when the information was updated.