The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the recall of certain freeze-dried snacks sold at retail stores like Albertson’s, CVS, Food Lion, H-E-B, Ingles Markets, Kroger, Stew Leonard’s, and Target.
There have been no reported cases of injury or illness to date, and the FDA said the market withdrawal was initiated upon receiving a report from a consumer alerting the company to this matter.
Company leaders did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
The recall applies to Tru Fru Freeze Dried Strawberries in Dark & White Chocolate and Tru Fru Freeze Dried Strawberries & Crème.
“Hard or sharp foreign objects in food may cause traumatic injury including laceration and perforation of tissues of the mouth, tongue, throat, stomach and intestine as well as damage to the teeth and gums,” the FDA said.
Tru Fru Freeze Dried Strawberries in Dark & White Chocolate with UPC 850048358270, 850048358331, and 10300458 are packaged in 3.4 ounce, 1.7 ounce, and 13 ounce bags, while Tru Fru Freeze Dried Strawberries & Crème with UPC 850048358249 are packaged in 3.4 ounce bags.
The FDA urged consumers who believe they purchased the recalled fruit snack to dispose of and not eat it.
Photo of one of the recalled snack items Courtesy of the FDA
Foreign object contamination accounted for 11.6 percent of all recalls, undeclared allergens accounted for nearly 40 percent, bacterial contamination accounted for 21.1 percent, and lead contamination accounted for 1.7 percent, according to the study.
The potential contamination by a foreign object, specifically metal, has alarmed some professionals in the food industry, including food industry consultant Bryan Quoc Le.
“Lead and foreign objects are easier to detect using fairly basic chemical, bulk material filtration, and X-ray diagnostics,” Quoc Le told NTD. “These systems are also less expensive to implement. Lead contamination is also a very serious issue that is often detected further up the ingredient supply chain, where contamination occurs at the point of harvesting or processing of ingredients.”
