Kellogg's Recall

Right: Four cereals recalled by Kellogg's

Kellogg’s Brand Cereal, the world’s largest cereal company June 25 recalled around 28 million cereal boxes across America due to various complaints by customers. Cases of nausea and vomiting were reported with 20 customers complaining they noticed a nasty smell coming from the cereal. Kellogg’s spokesperson Adaire Putnam said the “waxy” odor could make people sick. The cereals with the most recalls are Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Pops, and Honey Smacks.

The Kellogg’s franchise is trying to identify what substance on the liner is causing the problem. The president of the company, David Mckay, formally apologized to the public for this incident, stating the customer’s health and safety is top priority for the company. To check if you own one of the boxes being recalled, look at the expiration date on the box. The affected boxes are dated March 26, 2011 and June 22, 2011.

The Kellogg’s decision comes in a period where other high-profile voluntary recalls have been made by businesses such as McDonalds and Girl Scout Cookies; however, unlike these recalls, the Kellogg’s incident posed no health risks. With consumers being asked to return products to the shelves so frequently, many of them might worry that producers are getting careless about the things they release.

Kellogg’s reaction to the complaints came quickly with the troublesome products coming back in a short amount of time, still there were concerns about how it was handled. Alina Popescu tweeted this on the Everything PR website: “What puzzles me is that the recall has happened on Friday but according to the Examiner.com coverage of the topic, they waited until Sunday to issue a press statement explaining the situation.”

On the consumer alert website for the Kellogg’s franchise, the company stated, “These packages are being recalled because we identified a substance in the package liner that can produce an uncharacteristic waxy-like off-taste and smell. The off-tastes and smells are caused by a slightly elevated level of a substance commonly present at very low levels in the waxy resins used to make packaging materials that are approved by the FDA. These resins are also commonly used to coat foods such as cheese, raw fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers. We did not find any substances that are not commonly used in packaging materials.”

Youth News sent two reporters to the closest grocery store and they were unable to find any product dated during the recall time frame.

For more information on the topic refer to http://consumeralert.kelloggs.com/consumeralert.aspx?id=3870

You may also contact the Kellogg Consumer Response Center at the following number: 888-801-4163. If you a box of cereal reported in the time zones of affected boxes, contact the company and a full refund will be given.