Pieces of plastic prompt Lean Cuisine recall

More than 92,000 pounds of frozen meals are being recalled over concerns of plastic contamination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nestle Prepared Foods is recalling approximately 92,206 pounds of Lean Cuisine baked chicken meals that may be “contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically pieces of white hard plastic,” the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a news release on Saturday.

The “8 5/8-oz. (244g) carton trays” of Lean Cuisine baked chicken, “white meat chicken with stuffing, red skin mashed potatoes and gravy” have a “lot code of 0246595911” and a “Best Before date” of Oct. 2021.

Box of Lean Cuisine meal.
Approximately 92,206 pounds of Lean Cuisine baked chicken meals are being recalled over concerns of plastic contamination. (Courtesy USDA)

The recalled meals, which were sold across the U.S., have an “establishment number” of “EST. P-9018” inside the USDA mark of inspection.

The food was produced and packaged on Sept. 2, 2020.

Customers are urged to toss the item or return it to where it was purchased.

The FSIS said the problem was discovered by Nestle on Friday after it received five consumer complaints of “hard white plastic found in the product.”

It said Nestle “believes the mashed potatoes used in the production of the baked chicken meals products had pieces of a plastic conveyor belt that broke during production.”

As of Saturday, FSIS said it had “received no reports of injury or illness.”

Consumers with questions about the recall can contact Nestle Prepared Foods at 800-993-8625.

Matt Small

Matt joined WTOP News at the start of 2020, after contributing to Washington’s top news outlet as an Associated Press journalist for nearly 18 years.

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