Canadian health officials are warning consumers about the risk of Salmonella from frozen breaded chicken.

The country’s Chief Medical Officers of Health released a statement saying Canadians need to be aware that even though frozen chicken products appear to be cooked, they are not and pose an increased health risk.

“Over the past 16 months, federal, provincial and territorial public health partners have identified hundreds of laboratory-confirmed human illnesses associated with frozen raw breaded chicken products contaminated with Salmonella, due at least in part to inadequate cooking or handling,” said Public Health Agency of Canada.

Common products include chicken nuggets, chicken strips, chicken burgers, popcorn chicken and chicken fries.

The agency says for every lab-confirmed illness reported, there are dozens more unreported cases in Canada.

“Despite these warnings and efforts to educate the public on safe food-handling practices, we continue to see hundreds of Salmonella illnesses among Canadians of all ages because of consumption of or exposure to improperly cooked frozen raw breaded chicken products,” says officials.

Most people who become ill from Salmonella will recover within a week. However, for some people, infection can lead to more severe illness, hospitalization, and in rare cases, even death.

For more tips and information on how to properly prepare and cook frozen raw breaded chicken products, click here.