Microwaved Chicken Not Cooked; Sickens Dozens

According to the Department of Agriculture, the dishes included breaded or pre-browned chicken breasts, some of them stuffed with vegetables or sold as “chicken Kiev” and “chicken cordon bleu.” The appearance of the food led people to assume that the chicken breasts were thoroughly cooked, even though they were still raw or undercooked inside. The agency said that some of the sicknesses occurred in Minnesota, but would not identify the 11 other states involved in the outbreak.

Minnesota has an unfortunate track record when it comes to frozen chicken. Just last year, Minnesota was one of 31 states affected by an outbreak of salmonella — caused by Banquet pot pies — that sickened 165 people. And since 1998, the state has been struck by at least four other outbreaks linked to pre-browned chicken, resulting in part from problems with microwave instructions.