Nestle Recalling 500,000 Lean Cuisine Meals After Consumers Report Finding Glass Pieces

 Last November, embattled pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories announced that it was recalling a large lot of its popular generic form of Lipitor because the pills may have been manufactured with impurities. As it turned out, poor production conditions and a lapse in overall safety led to glass particles being mixed in with the medication. While that dangerous product recall was limited to people who had been prescribed Atorvastatin calcium tablets, it was still an important reminder that production errors can lead to serious unexpected injuries.

Similar to Ranbaxy’s troublesome recall, Nestle is recalling more than 500,000 Lean Cuisine microwaveable dishes because some consumers have reported finding fragments of broken glass in their sealed meals. The meals in question are the Lean Cuisine Culinary Collection Mushroom Mezzaluna Ravioli that were distributed to grocery stores in November of 2012, bearing production codes of 2311587812 and 2312587812.

In a press release announcing this voluntary recall, Nestle declared that only three consumers have reported finding glass fragments in their meals, and the company also believes that all of the microwave dishes in question have already been sold by now. However, the expiration date on these specific meals is December 2013, so there is a possibility that many of them are still in the home freezers of many consumers. With that, it’s important that consumers who may have purchased these specific meals first check the UPC code panel on the side of the box before consuming the product. Additionally, consumers who have purchased any Lean Cuisine meals should inspect their food before consumption just to be safe.

Nestle is urging consumers to contact the company at (866) 586-9424 if they believe they have one of the affected meals, as representatives will offer additional instructions on how to deal with this recall. The company will provide reimbursement coupons and may request to retrieve some products for examination.

According to USA Today, this Lean Cuisine recall is reminiscent of recalls from 2008 and 2011 as both included reports of consumers finding plastic fragments in their food as well.