The FDA Just Issued Warnings About These Items in Your Freezer
Both of the products were found to pose potential health hazards.
At any given moment, there's a good chance your freezer is filled with an assortment of items ranging from leftovers to your trusty pint of ice cream. The underappreciated appliance can often be a saving grace for last-minute meals or storing essential ingredients for months on end. But if you've recently stocked your freezer, you should also be aware of a recent warning issued by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) about two potentially hazardous items. Read on to see which frozen products could be putting your health at risk.
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Two frozen food items are being recalled due to potential health hazards.
On Jan. 19, the FDA issued two separate warnings about voluntary recalls issued for frozen food products. One notice affects 12-ounce packages of frozen chopped spinach sold under the Lidl supermarket brand name distributed to stores in Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. Recalled items are packed in 12-ounce poly bags marked on the back with lot number R17742 or R17963 and a "best by" date of 09/10/23.
The other recalled item is Amy's Kitchen Vegan Organic Rice Mac & Cheeze. The notice clarifies that 15,626 cases are affected, marked with UPC 42272-00043, lot code 60J0421, and a "best before" date of 10/2023. The agency says no other Amy's Kitchen products are affected by the recall.
The Lidl frozen spinach was recalled due to a potential bacterial contamination.
The FDA's notice says that the Lidl frozen chopped spinach was recalled after routine testing discovered potential contamination of Listeria monocyotgenes bacteria in the product. While no illnesses have yet been reported, the organism can "cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail, or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems," according to the agency.
However, even healthy people may be infected by listeria, experiencing short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. "Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women," as well, the FDA warns.
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The Amy's Kitchen vegan mac & cheese is being recalled due to undeclared dairy ingredients.
According to the FDA, Amy's Kitchen decided to initiate their recall of its Vegan Organic Rice Mac & Cheeze when a third-party laboratory test discovered trace amounts of milk protein in one of the meals. The company says it is acting out of "an abundance of caution to ensure the safety of consumers who have an allergy or sensitivity to milk."
Recent legislation has changed the way food must be labeled for safety reasons. The Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act, requiring "Big 8" allergens such as milk to be disclosed as allergens on all packaged food regulated by the FDA, was signed into law on Apr. 23, 2021 and will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
Customers should dispose of the products or return them for a refund.
Customers who purchased the affected products are advised to either throw them away or return them for a full refund. Anyone with questions or concerns about the recalled frozen chopped spinach can contact customer care for Lidl at 1-844-747-5435 Monday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST.
Customers who may have purchased the recalled mac & cheese can contact Amy's Kitchen at 800-643-0570. Representatives are available on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST.
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