Glass in Lean Cuisine Ravioli Perplexes Nestle, Which has 'No-Glass Policy'

Select Lean Cuisine ravioli meals are the subject of a voluntary recall after three consumers reported finding glass shards, the Huffington Post reported. The multiple reports of glass shards caught Nestle, maker of the meals, by surprise.

"?we don't have glass in our factories. We have a no-glass policy," Nestle spokeswoman Roz O'Hearn told HuffPost.

Identifying Recalled Lean Cuisine Meals

Nestle identified production codes 2311587812 and 2312587812 for the recalled ravioli. All of the recalled meals were produced during a two-day period in November, the company said. The "best before" date is December 2013.

Handling Recalled Product

No injuries have been reported in connection with the recalled ravioli. Nestle says most of the product has probably been consumed already. Purchasers with recalled ravioli still in their freezers should contact Nestle at 866-586-9424 or leancuisine@casupport.com. The company may want the product returned for testing, the company website says.

Other Recalls for Glass Shards

Multiple recalls in recent years have involved reports of glass shards in the product. In November, the Associated Press noted the generic cholesterol drug Lipitor made by Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals was pulled from store shelves for this reason. Ranbaxy was already operating under a consent decree requiring improvements to its manufacturing process, the AP said.

In 2010, Pictsweet initiated a recall of frozen green peas after determining the packages may have contained glass shards.

In France in 2011, Gerber recalled banana baby food after glass was reportedly found in a single jar.

Sam Adams beer was recalled in 2008, the Consumerist said, due to concerns that defective bottles may have left small amounts of glass in the beer.

Food Contamination Vulnerability

Some 48 million Americans get sick, 100,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from contaminated food, according to Bloomberg View. That's in part because the Food and Drug Administration employs only 1,100 inspectors and they only check 6 percent of the domestic and 0.4 percent of the imported food supply annually. Industry inspection programs have allowed contaminated foods into the marketplace, including cantaloupe contaminated with listeria that killed 33 people in August 2011 and salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine in 2008.

A look at FDA food recall lists shows most food contamination is of biological origin. Many of the latest contaminant recalls involve listeria, although metal fragments were detected in Annie's frozen foods pizzas and in various bagel brands in January.

Carol Bengle Gilbert writes about consumer issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glass-lean-cuisine-ravioli-perplexes-nestle-no-glass-193500958.html

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