Check your fridge! Bits of plastic found in Trader Joe’s meal

March 12, 2022

By Kim Komando

You can put several things in a salad to add a bit of crunch, like carrots or bacon bits. But you certainly don’t want to bite down on a piece of plastic. A balanced diet is essential, but nobody needs a polymer resin mixed with a blend of additives for lunch.

Unfortunately, that is what you might get if you bought a salad from Trader Joe’s lately. While it isn’t an official recall, a public health alert has been issued for a specific chicken salad that might contain plastic particles. Tap or click here for a list of recently recalled food items.

Read on to identify the hazardous meal and what you should do now.

Here’s the backstory

The health warning relates to “Trader Joe’s Crunchy Slaw with Chicken, Crispy Noodles & Peanut Dressing,” but it’s not the salad as a whole that’s the problem. According to the warning, R & G Fine Foods received word from its salad dressing supplier that the dressing may contain pieces of hard plastic.

The company then informed the FSIS, which contacted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The statement explains that the FDA regulates salad dressing. Here are the details on what to look for if you recently bought the affected product:

• The salads were produced between March 3 and March 6, 2022.
• It’s available in a 12-oz. plastic tray.
• Printed on the label is a Use-By date of March 9, March 10, March 11 or March 12, 2022.
• It bears establishment number “P-6247” inside the USDA mark of inspection.
• The salads are sold in various stores across Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

What you can do about it

Plastic particles in food are dangerous, but thankfully there have been no reports of illness or adverse reactions to the consumption of these salads. However, if you think you might have ingested some of the particles, you should seek medical advice from a healthcare professional.

• Check your fridge to ensure that you don’t have the tainted salad. Do not eat the salad. You can return the container to the shop where you bought it.
• If you have any questions, you can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday.

This isn’t the first recall or warning that includes foreign particles found in food this year.

Last month, a Family Dollar stores warehouse inspection uncovered a massive rodent infestation. The discovery led to a voluntary recall of several products shipped to over 400 stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

A few days before that, the FDA pulled several Royal Ice Cream Company products from the shelves after samples tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

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