Lean Cuisine frozen chicken meals are being recalled  over concerns that they may contain small pieces of hard plastic, the United States Department of Agriclulture (USDA) has announced.  The recall involves over 879,000 pounds of Lean Cuisine Frozen Chicken Meals may contain hard blue plastic bits.

Nestle Prepared Foods Company is recalling the Lean Cuisine Chicken Meals after receiving no less than seven consumer complaints, said MedicineNet.com, who noted that one complaint involved a report of gum injury.

According to the USDA, the following Lean Cuisine products are being recalled:

• “LEAN CUISINE PESTO CHICKEN WITH BOW TIE PASTA”:  9.5-ounce frozen meal packages.  Each side of the package is imprinted with a production code of “8280595912″ and a use-by date of “Best Before MAY 2010.”
• “LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN MEDITERRANEAN”:  10.5-ounce frozen meal packages.  Each side of the package is imprinted with a production code of either “8231595912″ or “8241595912″ and a use-by date of “Best before SEP 2010″; a production code of “8263595912,” “8269595911,” or “8274595912,” and a use-by date of “Best before OCT 2010″; or a production code of “8291595912″ or “8301595912″ anda use-by date of “Best before NOV 2010.”
• “LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN TUSCAN”:  12.5-ounce frozen meal packages. Each side of the package is imprinted with a production code of “8234595911″ and a use-by date of “Best before SEP 2009″; a production code of “8253595911″ or “8269595912″ and a use-by date of “Best before OCT 2009″; or a production code of “8292595911″ or “8296595911″ and a use-by date of “Best before NOV 2009.”

Each of the recalled Lean Cuisine frozen chicken dinner packages bears the USDA mark of inspection and the establishment number “EST P-9018,” said MedicineNet.  The frozen chicken meals were produced on August 18, 21, 28; September 9, 19,  25, and 30; and October 6, 17, 18,  22, 27, 2008, reported MedicineNet, which also noted that, according to the USDA, the Lean Cuisine frozen chicken dinners were distributed to retail establishments nationwide.

“We determined that the plastic entered our facility in a single lot of an incoming raw ingredient.  We’re trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening in the future. But we went into action very quickly on a very small number of complaints,” a Nestle Prepared Foods Company spokesperson told MedicineNet.

Earlier this month we reported that the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that approximately 41,415 pounds of the Barber Foods Company’s frozen stuffed chicken products were being recalled because the Barber Foods—of Portland, Maine—frozen stuffed chicken may contain foreign materials.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 9:48 am and is filed under Defective Products, Food Poisoning, Food Products, Legal News, Product Recalls, Recalled Food Products.