• special k red berries

It has been a bad few months for quality control in some companies, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to be busy dealing with reports and concerns involving glass fragments and particles in medication and food. In November, India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories was hit with another investigation by the FDA with a recall of the company’s generic Lipitor, after it was determined that poor manufacturing conditions led to glass particles being discovered in the packaged medication.

Additionally, Nestle announced the recall of more than 500,000 Lean Cuisine meals last week because of a similar concern.  Three consumers reported finding glass fragments in a specific type of ravioli meal, and it marked the third sort of recall for Nestle and Lean Cuisine in recent years. Now, Kellogg’s is drawing more attention to this strange and dangerous occurrence, as various size boxes of the popular Special K Red Berries cereal are being recalled because of reports of glass in the packages.

While the exact number of boxes being recalled has yet to be determined, boxes that adhere to the following details are indeed affected:

  • 11.2-ounce boxes with UPC Code 38000 59923, and a “Best Used By” date of Dec. 2, 2013 followed by  KNC 105 and a time stamp of 00:13 through 02:30.
  • 22.4-ounce boxes with UPC Code 38000 78356, and a “Best Used By” date of Nov. 30, 2013 followed by KNA 105 and a time stamp of 07:00 through 08:51 or followed by KNB 105 and a time stamp of 15:00 through 17:05.
  • 37-ounce boxes with UPC code 38000 20940, and a “Best Used By” date of Nov. 30, 2013 followed by KNB 107 and a time stamp of 17:31 through 20:05.

Any other boxes of different sizes are believed to be exempt of this recall; however, for specific details and to receive a coupon for a free replacement box of cereal, Kellogg’s is urging consumers to contact the company’s officials at (800) 962-1413. Because the company may want investigate some of the products, consumers shouldn’t discard the cereal boxes until Kellogg’s confirms that they should.

Problems such as those leading to this recall have proven costly for Kellogg’s in the past as the company spent an estimated $100 million in 2012 to correct production and supply chain errors that were responsible for other recalls, including the October recall of Mini-Wheats cereal boxes that may have contained metal fragments.