Hot Pocket Recall: Pieces of Plastic in Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pockets
Nestle Prepared foods Company has issued a Hot Pocket recall for over 200,000 pounds of stuffed, frozen Hot Pocket Pepperoni Pizza sandwich products. This follows a similar Lean Pocket recall issued last month by Nestle for frozen Spinach Artichoke Chicken Pockets.
The Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pockets were sold under the brand name of “Hot Pockets,” as opposed to the reduced calorie “Lean Pockets” which were involved in last months recall. However, both actions were taken because small pieces of plastic were found in the sandwiches.
The Hot Pockets consist of meats and cheese in a crust that can be heated in a microwave. The USDA classified both actions as a “Class I Recall”, since the consumption of the products could cause severe adverse health consequences, including death.
The recalled Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pockets were manufactured by Nestle on June 5, 2008, and sold throughout the United States. According to Nestle, the Hot Pocket recall only applies to 54 ounce, 12 pack cartons labeled “Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza – value 12 pack”. They contain a “Best Before” date of “Jan2010”, an establishment number of “EST 7721A” and a packaging code “8157544614D” printed on the side of the package.
Nestle discovered the latest Hot Pocket problems after they received at least four independent complaints where consumers reported pieces of hard red plastic were in the pizza products. Although no injuries have been confirmed as the date of the recall, it is unclear how many users could have eaten the defective Hot Pockets without reporting problems and thousands of the sandwiches could still be in consumers’ freezers.
On July 14, 2008, Nestle issued a Lean Pocket recall for nearly 200,000 pounds of their frozen stuffed chicken sandwiches which were produced on May 23, 2008. At the time of this earlier recall, the Nestle suggested that no other products were at risk, but clearly that was not the case.
It is unclear how the pieces of plastic made their way into the microwavable pockets, and Nestle has failed to provide any information for consumers about how they can be assured that other Hot Pocket and Lean Pocket products are not also affected.
As of the date this article was published, Nestle continues to prominently feature Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pockets on the home page of their Hot Pockets website, without any clearly labeled links to information about these recalls.
13 comments
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I heated up a meatball & cheese hotpocket. As I bit into the hot pocket…the cheese blew up in my face. I have a huge burn on my chin. I am going to the dermatogist tomorrow. My chin has hurt me for the past 2 days. Layers of skin have come off. I have taken a picture of my face.
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Donna I would like to the see the picture of your face! I was also curious, was there a recall for exploding hot pockets??
Ya. I at a pizza ot pocket and it had some sort of plastic,fish bone lokking things in it. thats just gross.
I JUST now found a white piece of plastic in my beef taco hot pocket that I almost choked on
I just book marked your blog on Digg and Stumble Upon.I get pleasure from reading your commentaries.
I just found either a piece of bone or a piece of white plastic in my chicken dijon Lean Pocket. It’s been years since I bought these and I’m not sure that I’m going to purchase them again. It was creepy.
I just bit into a chicken broccli and cheese hot pocket and it has a hug
e bug n it, I dnt feel well and goin to the hospital. How can u not see a big bug like that, thats the nastiest thing I have ever went thru.. Me and my lawyer are planning on takin this to our local news station. Whos gona pay my doctor bills from this and my pain suffering,I am outraged rite now
I ended up in the hospital because I ate a Pepperoni and Cheese Hot pocket and it caused me to have constant vomiting and diahrea along with severe abdominal pains for a week. The ER said it was because there was a bacteria in it that gave me colitis, an infection of the colon. I highly recommend not consuming this product.
My eight year old bit into a Spinach and 3Cheese Lean Pocket this weekend and pulled out a piece of bone over an inch long. Sharp on one end! I contacted the company and sent them pictures and they apologized forthe product “not meeting me expectations” and are sending me coupons and a “refund”. I would never buy this product again. It’s disgusting, my daughter could have choked, AND it was supposed to be a vegetarian snack!
May 9,2013
My great-grand-daughters mother continues to feed my ggd these darn pepperoni pazza hotpockets by Nestle. She eats to of those things everyday. Thursday she became extremely ill in school. Stomack cramps and throwing up with a headach. I told her mother to take her to the emeergency room because it could be food poisening, but she wouldn’t take her.
I think those hotpockets made her ill.
I used to be a frequent consumer of Hot Pockets for a while, but I stopped eating them entirely a few years ago after encountering several questionable-tasting ones. In each case, there were no obvious signs of spoilage or contamination based on smell or appearance. However, after 1-2 bites it was clear that something was wrong based on the taste, so I stopped eating it. In each case I experienced indigestion and/or nausea from that small exposure to the tainted product.
I eat a variety of other frozen foods on a regular basis without encountering such problems, so I think that something is wrong with the quality control and safety procedures for Hot Pocket’s processing and/or supply chain. I will never consume them again.
Bad experiences like this make me appreciate those people that only eat meat from local suppliers that they personally know. I’m not yet prepared to go that far, but it’s an understandable reaction to some of the practices of the meat and food processing industries. Take that aweful case of the Rancho slaughterhouse in California where the owner is facing criminal charges and up to 20 years in prison for intentionally shipping meat from cancerous cows….