The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has officially retracted a public health alert for Walmart’s Great Value Fully Cooked Dino Shaped Chicken Breast Nuggets. The initial warning, issued on April 1, affected products with a "Best If Used By" date of February 10, 2027.
The public health alert was originally issued based on routine surveillance sampling conducted by the New York State Department of Public Health that indicated elevated trace levels of lead. Because this product is commonly consumed by children, FSIS issued the alert to inform consumers of a potential risk.
Following the alert, additional sampling was conducted by the New York State Department of Public Health and the producing establishment, Dorada Foods. As part of that process, the original lot of product was tested as well as additional lots.
According to the USDA, all follow up testing, including testing of the original lot, found no elevated levels of lead in the product.
The FSIS subsequently reviewed the underlying laboratory data in coordination with the New York State Department of Health and determined that the initial result was a false positive, caused by sporadic lead contamination at the laboratory during analysis, not contamination of the product itself. Follow up testing confirmed no elevated levels of lead were present in any of the products tested.
The USDA now says the dino nuggets do not pose a health risk and the product is safe for consumption.