Monday, February 05, 2007

Tyson Foods: Listen Up!

I'm pissed.

My family loves chicken fajitas and we normally make them with chicken breast strips from Trader Joe's. The other day, the hubby and I were at Meijers and decided to grab two bags of Tyson Fajita Chicken Breast strips. After all, as you can see from the Tyson picture below, the white chicken breasts look quite delicious:


But after cooking up the Tyson product, here's how much of the purty white stuff we ended up with:


Did I mention I was pissed?

As I continued to cook the product (which was advertised as fully cooked. I was merely "warming up" the product) the hubby and I began to remove the not-so-delectible selections of meat that we found in the pan:



Yes, that plate on the left is the fatty dark meat that comprised over ninety percent of this supposedly white meat Tyson product.

Oh, I was pissed. And the hubby was too. Twelve dollars of meat and hardly enough to feed a family of six.

But what I'm about to show you is not for the faint of heart. Make sure you're sitting down as you direct your eyes to this next photograph:


Does this even resemble anything close to white chicken breast meat?

Listen up, Tyson foods-- that's deceptive advertising. I won't be buying this product ever again. And I'm betting the readers of this blog won't be, either.

Update:

Tyson responded quickly:

Dear Ms. Putz:

We appreciate your taking the time to share your comments regarding the
chicken fajita strips. I understand your frustration when a product
does not meet expectations.

I visited your blog spot--the pictures helped me to understand part of
the issue. The first picture (from our web site) is a 6 ounce package
of Tyson Fajita Chicken Breast Strips. These are sold refrigerated, not
frozen. The second picture (item that you purchased) is a 20 ounce bag
of frozen Tyson Fajita Chicken Strips. The fajita chicken strips
include both thigh and breast meat.

A report regarding the fatty thigh meat was sent to the Quality
Assurance Manager. I also forwarded your message to the Marketing
Product Manager. Per our product guarantee of satisfaction, a refund
for the two bags will be mailed to you at the address included in your
e-mail. Again, we appreciate your feedback.

Best regards,

Willie D. Barber
Manager, Consumer Information Services
Tyson Foods, Inc.

Note from me: I apparently posted the wrong bag of chicken breast strips, but if you look closely at the bag that I took a picture of-- you can see the same white chicken breasts on the second bag (there's no "breast" in the bag description). Still deceptive advertising!

Update: Tyson followed up with a letter and apology and a check for a full refund. They also sent a coupon for two more bags of Fajita strips.

Uh, no thanks!

14 comments:

kkurt said...

That looks like a chicken foot... ugh.. I don't buy the ready made "just warm up" meats. The sound of that doesn't settle well with me. I much rather buy raw chicken breast (on sale of course) and make my own "strips" - fresher and you can make em in bulk!! I hope you'll show this to Tyson!!

Karen Putz said...

Ah yes, I sent Tyson a link to this. Let's see if they actually respond.

Karen Putz said...

Comment left in my email box by Betsy A:

After what you have experienced I won't buy Tyson Fajita Chicken Breast strips.... Where's the Chicken???

Anonymous said...

Ugh!
I'm another one who buys raw chicken in bulk and makes my own strips...

JulieAnn said...

Karen:

I purchase Tyson's products twice and vowed never to go back to it again. I even wrote a letter, submitted my receipt and proof of purchase- only never heard back from them and this was well over a year ago. I'm with Ms. Kurt- with two teenaged boys, I purcase my meats in bulk and do my own preparation ahead of time and freeze until I need to use it. I will NEVER GO BACK TO TYSON'S PRODUCTS again..

groovyoldlady said...

I'm a raw meat buyer. Sometimes boneless breast gets down to 99¢ a pound and I fill my freezer!

No Tyson for me!

Karen Putz said...

Hey Groovy, come on over next Sunday and fill my freezer up!

I do the raw meat thing too, but I always like to have the Trader Joe's stuff on hand for quick meals when there's no time.

Dawn Wilson said...

Eww, gross. I've never bought this product. Raw meat all the way! At least you can SEE what you are buying. I usually go to the butcher for fajita fixings. I've bought a Tyson product only once and WAS NOT happy. I won't go back to them, either. Yeah, it's nice to have ready-made stuff on hand, but this kind of thing is ridiculous. I hope you get an apology from them!

Not From Lapland said...

yum, doesn't that look appetizing! Don't you kinda get the feeling from their letter that they don't actually give a shit.

Hey, now you got two more bags of the stuff to eat. Bet you can't wait!

Karen Putz said...

Fortunately, they're mailing a refund and not two more bags. I won't be eating this stuff ever again.

Anonymous said...

Gross. I'm never buying frozen chicken again. And, after seeing those pictures, it'll be awhile before I can eat ANY chicken at all.

groovyoldlady said...

Yep...I'd say the picture on the second bag sure LOOKS like breast meat.

beSmart beGreen said...

there are even more reason's to not eat meat from Tyson, Monsanto, or any factory farm for that matter. GROSS!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/17/105817/124

see also:http://www.idausa.org/facts/factoryfarmfacts.html

Anonymous said...

No one in America should buy Tyson products. They are dropping Labor Day, and celebrating the Muslim holiday. Look it up on Snopes.com and you'll see it's true. This is America, why would any company drop a National American Holiday?
This is not the way to make America Strong again.

Shelbyville Times-Gazette: Story: Tyson drops Labor Day holiday for Eid al-Fitr