Baby food giant Gerber has voluntarily recalled its organic fruit and veggie pouches over concerns of spoilage after discovery of packaging defect.
Gerber reported that the following products were sold to online resellers and retailers in the U.S. The firm is also closely working with the distributors to retrieve the remaining pouches of products from the affected batches of Gerber products.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that the batches of affected products include GERBER® Organic 2ND FOODS® Pouches -Carrots, Apples and Mangoes, 3.5-ounce pouch UPC 15000074395 with best by date/batch codes 13JUL2016 51955335XX and 14JUL2016 51965335XX and GERBER® Organic 2ND FOODS® Pouches -Pears, Carrots & Peas, 3.5-ounce pouch UPC 15000074319 with best by date/batch codes 12JUL2016 51945335XX and 13JUL 2016 51955335XX.
Affected products may have bloated packaging and bad odor or taste and must not be consumed. The company's voluntary recall may have stemmed from incidents of acute gastrointestinal incidents from three consumers. Although it was not established if Gerber products were the cause of the illness, the company advised against the consumption of the said products as they did not meet the Gerber standards of quality.
Those who purchased the above mentioned batches of Gerber products are advised to coordinate with the Gerber Parents Resource Center by calling 1-800-706-0556. The company, as compensation, is offering replacement coupons for those who purchased the products.
Gerber claims that no other products are affected by the spoilage risk.
In 1986, Gerber faced a scandal when news broke out that their baby food products allegedly have broken glass inside. As a result, local retailers removed Gerber jars from their shelves. The FDA, after testing hundreds of Gerber jars found nothing unusual with the company's manufacturing and distribution system.
In April 2015, another baby food maker, Beech-Nut Nutrition issued a recall of their Stage 2 Beech-Nut CLASSICS sweet potato and chicken products after a consumer reported the presence of a glass shard in the jar.
Gerber Products Company is known for producing and distributing baby food products but are now also selling baby bottles, breastfeeding supplies and a line of health care products, such as vitamin drops and tooth and gum cleanser. The company is a subsidiary of Nestle Group.
