Photo:Alejandro Moreno de Carlos/Stocksy
Kraft Foods is pulling back 6.5 million boxes of its macaroni and cheese product after it was found that some of those boxes contain small pieces of metal.
This recall comes just days after a recent listeria outbreak linked to Blue Bell Creameries ice cream. This bacteria doesnt merely cause run-of-the-mill food poisoningit has the potential to be deadly. In fact, in this most recent case,it may have contributed to the deaths of three people.
What should you do, then, with the leftover carton of Blue Bell ice cream in the freeze or an empty blue box of mac and cheese in your trash bin?
First off, dont freak out. If you dont believe us, believe Marianne Gravely, a technical information specialist with the USDAs meat and poultry hotline. Gravely and her team field all sorts of questions from panicked consumers on the regular, so she knows a thing or two about calming people down.
Although recalls for various foods are often handled by different agenciesfor instance, the FDA might recall an ice cream product, whereas the USDA generally recallsraw chicken b*****s Gravelys advice is applicable to any of them. Below, she puts our collective minds at ease with a practical guide to navigating a food recall.
Check with your grocer if youre unsure as to whether or not youve eaten a recalled product. Photo: Jill Chen/Stocksy
1. Make sure that what you purchased is exactly the product being recalled.
Check the packaging to make sure you have it, because you may have something thats made by the same company, but isnt the recalled product, Gravely explained. It has to be exactly whats in the recall: the brand name, the product, the establishment number, and it has to be part of the recalled batch. That means if your chicken has a sell-by date of April 21, but recalled batchs is April 22, you have no cause to be alarmed.
2. Figure out why the food is being recalled.
There have been a number of recalls because a food contains a spice mix that may contain peanuts, Gravely said. Because the spice wasnt labeled as containing peanuts, it was recalled. Thats a potentially life-threatening issue for people with peanut allergies, but theres no need to worry if you dont have one.
Other common culprits behind recalls include foreign objects in food, such as chunks of plastic or metal. You should never knowingly eat a product thats been recalled because of this issue, Gravely stressed, but if you accidentally do and dont bite into a hunk of metal? Youre probably OK.
Improper processing is another major reason behind recalls. While this has the potential for disaster, it doesnt always lead to it. A long time ago, there was a canned product and it hadnt been heated to the right temperature, Gravely said. The inspector doing the review found the problem and recalled the product, but we didnt have any reports of illness. The lesson? Dont panic prematurely.
Before you get concerned, make sure that what you ate identically matches the product being recalled. Photo:Alejandro Moreno de Carlos/Stocksy
3. Think: Did you cook the recalled product thoroughly?
This advice admittedly isnt very useful when it comes to ice cream or deli meats, but its critical for things like raw beef or seafood. If you cooked it through, probably you would have killed that bacteria, Gravely explained.
4. Toss it out.
All things considered, if you havent already eaten a recalled product, dont throw it out or return it to the store. Food poisoning isnt a risk you want to take, nor is chomping down on a piece of glass.
If you cooked a product thoroughly, its less likely youll get sickeven if it was recalled. Photo:Maximilian Guy McNair MacEwan/Stocksy
5. Talk to your grocer.
If youre uncertain if youve eaten recalled food, ask the grocery store that sold it to you. You can also consult the official recall document at Foodsafety.gov, which, within a few days, usually details where a product was distributed.
6. If you begin to feel sick, see a doctor.
Food poisoning isnt like a cold, where you kind of start feeling worse and worse you definitely have symptoms [right away], Gravely said. If youre suddenly vomiting or you have diarrhea, you should go to a doctor. Food poisoning symptoms can be severe.
More important intel on food poisoning (and how to avoid it):
The drink that could save you from salmonella and other bugs
In the future, our fridges might text us when food is about to go bad
Do you really have to wash your chicken before cooking it? We investigate
How do you handle a food recall? Tell us below!
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNHorULLP896wBt1M__sv1u1LxiAwg&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=CCsKVeC2Dajh8gHPqYCYCw&url=https://www.yahoo.com/food/kraft-mac-and-cheese-recall-what-to-do-if-113889857706.html
