Considering life in 2021 has so far been characterized by all-consuming chaos and uncertainty, you might feel compelled to seek solace in tucking into a nice carton of delicious ice cream. But this year, even ice cream is trying to kill you.
Two ice cream products from Weis Markets might be riddled with hazardous material: 11,000 containers of the company’s products currently on the market come with a choking hazard warning because of “metal filling equipment parts” wedged into its confections, according to an FDA advisory released earlier this month.
If you’re a fan of the brand, you should probably throw away any container of its products, even if you think you may have skirted the danger for some reason. Here’s what you need to know about the recall.
11,000 containers distributed across seven states are affected
According to the FDA’s warning, two ice cream flavors are wrapped up in the mess, listed by the agency below:
10,869 containers of Weis Quality Cookies and Cream Ice Cream (48 oz.)
502 bulk containers of Klein’s Vanilla Dairy Ice Cream (3 gallon)
As the agency notes, the ice cream products are “contaminated with extraneous material,” and one person discovered “an intact piece of metal equipment” in their carton of ice cream. Yikes.
The company issued a warning about the two products on Jan. 8, but adding a slight wrinkle to the situation is they were each sold in different stores. The cookies and cream cartons were distributed to “197 Weis Markets’ stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and West Virginia,” per the FDA. Klein’s Vanilla bulk ice cream was only distributed to one store in New York, and it has since been removed from sale.
Fortunately, there’s only been the one report of a customer encountering a wayward piece of metal in their ice cream, though the thought of chomping down on something that can slice into your mouth certainly provides some, uh, food for thought.
How to know if your ice cream is affected
There are helpful cues to let you know whether you’re about to buy or bite into tainted ice cream. The cookies and cream containers come in 48 oz. packaging with a sell-by date of October 28, 2021 (written on the bottom of the container), and were originally distributed to stores on October 29, 2020. Since the vanilla ice cream was already pulled from its one retail location in New York state, the cost is clear as far as additional sales are concerned. If any New Yorkers fear the afflicted ice cream might be lurking in their freezer, you can identify the carton by its code stamp: 0302.
Additional ice cream products distributed by the company last October have been stored in a warehouse and not released for sale. In the meantime, consider buying your ice cream from a multitude of other fine purveyors currently on the market.