Lean Cuisine Baked Chicken Meal Recall Over Contamination With Plastic Pieces

Food safety officials indicate nearly 100,000 pounds of Lean Cuisine baked chicken meals may contain hard pieces of plastic, which could pose a choking or laceration hazard to consumers if swallowed.

A Lean Cuisine baked chicken meal recall was announced by the U.S. Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) on December 19, after the manufacturer received several consumer complaints indicating large white pieces of plastic were found inside of certain Lean Cuisine white meat chicken with stuffing meals.

Nestle Prepared Foods first discovered the problem on December 18, and an investigation determined one of the conveyor belts used during the production of the mashed potatoes had broken, potentially allowing varying sizes of hard white plastic to enter the products.

The recall includes approximately 92,206 pounds of Lean Cuisine Baked Chicken, white meat chicken with stuffing, red skin mashed potatoes and gravy meals sold in 8 5/8 ounce carton trays and marked with lot code 0246595911 and establishment number EST. P-9018. The impacted meals are marked with a Best Before date of October 2021.

The products were manufactured by Nestle Prepared Foods of Springville, Utah and packaged on September 2, 2020. They were shipped to various retailers and distributors nationwide. A retailer distribution list is currently being compiled and will be posted on the FSIS website when available.

Customers are being instructed to stop consuming the recalled products immediately and to check their freezers for any remaining inventory. All remaining recalled meals should be either discarded or returned to their place of purchase.

The FSIS has categorized the recall as Class I, indicating there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death. To date, the agency has not become aware of any injuries related to the recall.

Customers with questions about the recall can contact Nestlé Prepared Foods, at (800) 993-8625. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also encourages consumers with food safety questions to call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854 or live chat via Ask USDA.