Beef Steak Fritter Recall: Pieces of Plastic Found in Frozen Food

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced on Friday that nearly 111,000 pounds of frozen beef steak fritter products have been recalled because they may contain small pieces of plastic.

The frozen beef steak fritter recall was issued by Advance Food Company after receiving complaints from consumers that they were finding pieces of plastic in their Beef Steak Fritters. Although there have been no reports of injuries, the foreign product could pose a choking hazard or result in other internal injuries if the contaminated food is consumed.

The recall affects 110,730 pounds of frozen meat, including all 9.75-pound bulk cases of Advance Food Company’s Beef Steak Fritters. The bulk cases are labeled “ADVANCE FOOD COMPANY, Beef Steak Fritter, For Country Frying, Chopped & Formed, Keep Froze, 13/12.” Each case has an establishment number of EST. 2260Y, a case code of 94612-100 and a “Best if Used By 09/23/2010” sticker on the end panel.

The products were produced on September 23 and sold to restaurants nationwide. They were not available for purchase by the public. The announcement gave no indication about how the pieces of plastic got into the frozen food.

Last year, similar manufacturing problems caused Nestle Prepared Foods Company to recall more than 1.2 million pounds of frozen foods due to reports of small pieces of hard, red plastic pieces. After initially recalling only 200,000 pounds of Lean Pocket Spinach Artichoke Chicken pockets in July 2008, Nestle expanded the recall the next month to add another 200,000 pounds of Hot Pocket Pepperoni Pizza pockets. In November 2008, 875,000 more pounds of Lean Cuisine chicken meals were recalled by Nestle, who indicated that the plastic pieces entered their facility in a single lot of incoming raw ingredients.