Nestle recalls ice cream, kids lunchables for listeria and misbranding of allergens

Friday, October 14, 2016 by: Daniel Barker
Tags: food recall, Nestle, listeria

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(NaturalNews) Nestle is recalling some of its products due to possible listeria contamination and misbranding of allergens.

Two of the company's ice cream products, a Drumstick Club 16 Count Variety Pack and 24 count Vanilla Pack, were recalled after routine testing found Listeria monocytogenes on equipment surfaces at Nestle's Bakersfield, California production facility.

None of the ice cream involved has yet tested positive for listeria, but because it originated at the Bakersfield facility where listeria traces were discovered, it was decided that a recall was in order.

From Fox News:

"The two recalled packs have the UPC codes 72554-11096 (Club) and 72554-00160 (24 count). The Club pack has a "best before" date range between June 2 and June 15, 2017, while the 24-count pack has a "best before" date range between June 16 and June 19, 2017.

"The following production codes for affected products can be found on the back of the packages for the Club pack: 6244580212, 6245580212, 6246580212, 6247580212, 6248580212, 6249580212, 6250580212, 6251580212, 6252580212, 6253580212, 6254580212, 6255580212, 6256580212, 6257580212. The following production codes can be found on the back of the individually marked vanilla cones from the 24 pack: 6258580212, 6259580212, 6260580212, 6261580212."

The cones in the 24 Count Vanilla Pack are normally sold individually at convenience stores.

Nestle has advised anyone who bought these products to return them to the place of purchase or contact Nestle Consumer Services at 1-800-681-1676 or [email protected].

Although some consumers will likely be reminded the 2015 Blue Bell Ice Cream recall, Nestle was eager to point out the differences. This is a precautionary recall - no illnesses have been reported and none of the products themselves have yet tested positive for listeria contamination.

The products involved came from a production line that tested positive for the bacteria, but were inadvertently shipped out due to an error in logging the results of the test.

How listeria finds its way into food products

Listeria contamination in food products is caused by animals that come in contact with the bacteria - listeria is naturally-occurring in soil and water and animals can carry the bacteria without appearing to be sick, which means that animal products, including dairy, can become contaminated.

The bacteria thrives in cold, damp and dark places - like refrigerators - and can even survive freezing.

Listeria infections can cause serious illness and even death - the danger is greater for children, elderly people, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever and muscle pain - in some cases, symptoms may not appear for several weeks.

Pregnant women may experience miscarriages or stillbirths due to listeria infection.

Nestle mislabels products containing allergens

Along with its ice cream recall, Nestle has also recalled some of its "Lunchables" products due to misbranding and failure to list allergens on the packages. The company has recalled around 900 pounds of its "Ham and American Cracker Stackers" product, with a "best before" date of Dec. 25.

The product does not display information regarding soy and wheat content.

How to avoid contaminated food products

One of the easiest ways to avoid consuming food contaminated with listeria or any number of other dangerous substances - from germs to heavy metals - is to not purchase processed foods.

If you buy fresh organic food from trusted local sources, you are far less likely to become sick from the many contaminants that can find their way into highly-processed food or meat and dairy products from animals raised in overcrowded factory farm conditions.

Avoiding Nestle products is a good idea anyway, not just because it is one of the world's biggest unhealthy processed food producers, but also because of the company's shameful history regarding water usage, mislabeling, pollution and child labor.

Sources:

TheIndyChannel.com

FoxNews.com

LiveScience.com

NutritionalAnarchy.com

ZMEScience.com