An Oklahoma company is recalling 676,560 pounds of defective frozen chili beef products.  It seems that the recalled chili might contain pebbles or small stones, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to a Reuters report.

Windsor Quality Food Company, Limited of Tulsa, Oklahoma, announced that it is recalling its five-pound and 20-pound cases of frozen “Whitey’s Chili with Beans.”  Windsor Quality Food received, to date, 16 reports from consumers who found foreign objects in their chili, said Reuters, who also noted that there have been four reports of injuries.

The recalled frozen Whitney’s Chili with Beans products were produced from November 6, 2008 to January 13, 2009 and were distributed to food service and limited retail establishments, according to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

WKYCTV announced that the following products are involved in the recall of Windsor Quality Food frozen Whitey’s Chili with Beans:

• Five-pound bags of frozen “Whitey’s? Chili with Beans, PREMIUM, No MSG.”  Each bag bears a product number of “48359″ as well as code dates of “4918311,” “4918318,” “4918322,” “4918325,” “4918329,” “4918336,” “4918339,” “4918346,” “4918347,” “4918353,” “4918357,” “4919006,” “4919008,” or “491913,” which can be found on the back of the bag.  Each bag bears the establishment number “Est. 7163″ inside the USDA mark of inspection.
• 20-pound cases of frozen “Whitey’s? Chili with Beans, PREMIUM, No MSG.”  Each case bears a product number of “48359″ as well as code dates of “4918311,” “4918318,” “4918322,” “4918325,” “4918329,” “4918336,” “4918339,” “4918346,” “4918347,” “4918353,” “4918357,” “4919006,” “4919008,” or “491913,” which can be found on the side of the case.  Each case bears the establishment number “Est. 7163″ inside the USDA mark of inspection.

Windsor Quality Foods said that the pebbles were from “an ingredient” source, but did not indicate what ingredient was involved and did not say from where the ingredient originated, said Oregon News.

Late last month, USDA’s FSIS announced that Barber Foods Company of Portland, Maine recalled about 6,050 pounds of its frozen, stuffed chicken carving roast products because the products may contain foreign materials.  That recall was prompted after a consumer complaint was received about finding pieces of plastic in the product.

In September, Wegmans issued a recall for 1,011 cases of Wegmans In-Store Made Bagels because there were concerns the bagels could contain pieces of a metal spring from a mixer that entered the dough, which was produced at the Wegmans’ Central Bakeshop in Rochester; the foreign objects posed a possible choking hazard.  In that case, the problem was discovered as a result of a customer complaint.

Prior to that recall, in August, Hot Pockets issued its third recall of the year when Nestle Prepared Foods Company recalled over 200,000 pounds of its Hot Pocket Pizza Sandwiches.  In July, Nestle recalled another nearly 200,000 pounds of its Lean Pockets spinach artichoke chicken sandwiches.  In both cases, a variety of consumer complaints about foreign objects in the Lean and Hot Pockets products led to the recalls.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Food Poisoning, Legal News, Product Recalls, Recalled Food Products.