After receiving eight complaints from consumers, Kraft Foods Group has issued a voluntary recall of around 242,000 cases of Original flavor Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner. The affected cases may contain small pieces of metal that could cause serious soft tissue injury if consumed.
Check your pantry
The recall affects 7.25oz boxes of the Original flavor with “Best When Used By” dates of Sept. 18, 2015 through Oct. 11, 2015. Affected boxes have the code “C2” under the date. Some of the boxes may be in multi-packs where the outside packaging has different dates and codes, so it’s important to check each individual box. The affected packages include:
- 7.25 oz. box, Original flavor
- 3-pack box of those 7.25 oz. boxes, Original flavor
- 4-pack shrink-wrap of those 7.25 oz. boxes, Original flavor
- 5-pack shrink-wrap of those 7.25 oz. boxes, Original flavor
The company issued the following statement: “We deeply regret this situation and apologize to any consumers we have disappointed… Consumers who purchased this product should not eat it. They should return it to the store where purchased for an exchange or full refund. Consumers also can contact Kraft Foods Consumer Relations at 1-800-816-9432 between 9 am and 6 pm (Eastern) for a full refund.”
Reuters reported that the company believes “a piece of stainless steel got wedged in a metal piece of equipment, which may have generated friction that resulted in small pieces of metal potentially falling into the product.” Whether this was a machine failure or negligence on behalf of the company has not been determined.
This product is particularly popular with young children, who might not recognize that something is wrong with their food. If the pieces of metal are small enough, they may cause damage without being seen. The National Institute of Health recommends that “any child who is believed to have swallowed a foreign object should be watched for pain, fever, vomiting, or local tenderness. Stools (bowel movements) should be checked to see if the object exited the body. This may sometimes cause rectal or anal bleeding.”
If you believe that you or your child may have ingested a foreign object, contact a medical professional immediately. If you or someone you know has been affected by this recall, please contact us for a free consultation.
