Safeway issues turkey recall on eve of Thanksgiving long weekend

Safeway issued a turkey recall early Friday evening, right on the cusp of the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Safeway issued a turkey recall early Friday evening, right on the cusp of the Thanksgiving long weekend.

"If you have purchased a Sunrise Grade A Fresh Turkey (5-8 kg) with a best before of October 11, we ask that you return it to a Safeway store near you for a full refund," it said, without explaining why.

While Calgary Safeway customers received the surprise email around 6 p.m., customers from Thrifty groceries across British Columbia also received the same notice earlier in the day.

Media outlets in B.C. reported that Sobeys, Inc., the parent company of both Thrifty and Safeway, issued a recall due to an "off-odour" in some turkeys.

A Sobeys media representative sent the following statement to CTV Calgary in response to an enquiry about the recall.

"Out of abundance of caution we have decided to take a precautionary step to remove all Sunrise Grade A Fresh Turkeys (size 5- 8kg Best Before Oct. 11) from our retail shelves in our Western Canadian stores (FreshCo, IGA, Safeway, Sobeys and Thrifty Foods) as this product does not meet our quality standards," it said.

CTV Calgary has reached out to Sobeys for details about the cause of the reported "off-odour."