Lean Cuisine Recall: Meals Could Be Contaminated with Pieces of Plastic

Nestle Prepared Foods company has recalled over 875,000 pounds of frozen Lean Cuisine chicken meals because they may contain small pieces of hard plastic that could cause injury for consumers. This is the third major recall this year by Nestle involving frozen foods that were found to contain pieces of plastic.

The Lean Cuisine recall was announced on November 17, 2008 after Nestle received a number of complaints from consumers who found small pieces of blue plastic in their meal.

At least one consumer has reported suffering an injury as result of the plastic in these meals.

The following frozen chicken meals, which were produced between August 18, 2008 and October 27, 2008, and sold at retail establishments throughout the United States, are subject to this latest recall:

• Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta: Production Code 8280595912. Use-by date of “Best Before MAY 2010”
• Lean Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean: Production Codes 8231595912, 8241595912, 8263595912, 8269595911, 8274595912, 8291595912 or 8301595912. Use by dates “Best before SEP2010”, “Best before OCT 2010” or “Best before NOV 2010”.
• Lean Cuisine Chicken Tuscan: Production Codes 8234595911, 8253595911, 8269595912, 8292595911 or 8296595911. Use by dates “Best before SEP 2009”, “Best before OCT 2009” or “Best before NOV 2009”.

Nestle Prepared Foods Company has issued two similar recalls already this year as a result of reports that small pieces of hard plastic were in other types of their frozen foods. A Lean Pocket recall was issued in July 2008 and a Hot Pocket Pepperoni Pizza recall was issued in August 2008 for nearly half a million pounds of the frozen stuffed sandwiches.

According to Roz O’Hearn, a spokeswoman for Nestle Perpared Foods Company, “the plastic entered our facility in a single lot of incoming raw ingredient.”

Following the earlier recalls, Nestle indicated that the problems were limited to the specific products involved in the recall. However, at that time, they did not give any indication about how the plastic entered the food or how they determined that other products were not impacted.

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact Nestle Prepared Foods Company at (800) 227-6188.

For individuals who have suffered a personal injury requiring medical treatment as a result of the small pieces of plastic the Lean Cuisine meals, Hot Pocket or Lean Pocket sandwiches, product liability lawyers recommend they preserve any unconsumed portion of the food until after they have spoken with an attorney about any potential legal claim they may wish to pursue.