Perdue is recalling more than 68,000 pounds of chicken nuggets because they may be contaminated with wood.

The gluten free Organics Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets were produced on October 25 and were sold at stores nationwide.

The US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA) said Perdue received three complaints that wood was found in the nuggets.

'The problem was discovered when the firm received three consumer complaints that wood was found in the product', the USDA said in a statement.

Perdue is recalling gluten free chicken nuggets over possible contamination with wood

Officials claim the food manufacturer received complaints from three customers and recalled the entire batch which had been produced

There have been no confirmed reports of illness due to consumption of the products and anyone concerned about its effects should see a doctor, it said.

Authorities said the product should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

The nuggets are gluten-free and have an expiration date of October 25, 2019, and UPC Bar Code '72745-80656' on the label.

Federal health officials say some products may be in consumers' freezers and warned people to throw them away or return them to the seller.

Perdue described it as an isolated incident, saying only a 'minimal amount' of packages may contain pieces of wood.

Perdue said it is recalling nuggets produced during the same product run out of an abundance of caution.

Recalls of meat and poultry have gone up by more than 80 percent in the last six years, according to a new report out Thursday.

The nuggets which have an expiration date of October 25, 2019 with the bar code '72745-80656' on the label should be discarded

The report by the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) found that produce and processed food recalls by the US Food and Drug Administration increased two percent from 2013 to 2018.

However, meat and poultry recalls from the US Department of Agriculture increased by 83 percent over the five-year period.

During this time, poultry had the most recalls at 168, followed by beef at 137 and pork at 18.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he is working to ensure the US food supply chain is safe

According to the researchers, one in six Americans get sick from eating contaminated food, leading to around 3,000 deaths each year.

Adam Garber, a researcher for PIRG said: 'Something is rotten in our slaughterhouses and our fields, and so common sense protections from farm to fork can help prevent that'.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said it welcomed the US PIRG's interest in the safety of the nation's food system.

He tweeted: 'Public health is our top priority and FDA is working hard to ensure the U.S. food supply remains among the safest in the world.

'While we agree with the premise that prevention is always better than a corrective action, such as executing a recall, there should be caution in using recall numbers alone as the sole metric for gauging long-term performance trends in food safety'.