Some Hot Pockets recalled due to meat safety concerns
Hot Pocket fans may want to check their freezers. Some steak and cheese varieties of the popular frozen foods are being recalled by Nestle USA due to a previously announced recall by a California company of meat deemed “unfit for human food.”
The products in question are Hot Pockets brand Philly Steak and Cheese in three different pack sizes and Hot Pockets brand Croissant Crust Philly Steak and Cheese.
Those varieties contained meat made by the Rancho Feeding Corporation of Petaluma, Calif., a company that recalled more than 8.7 million pounds of meat Feb. 14 because it “processed diseased and unsound animals and carried out these activities without the benefit or full benefit of federal inspection.”
No illnesses have been reported in the large meat recall, according to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Nestle said in a statement that the company did not purchase the meat directly from Rancho, but other vendors on the supply chain may have.
“We have confirmed that a small quantity of meat from Rancho was used at Nestle's Chatsworth, California production operation, a facility devoted entirely to Hot Pockets brand sandwiches. The affected batches of the two varieties in our range of Hot Pockets brand sandwiches are being removed from the marketplace.”
The following product codes and best before dates were included in the recall:
Hot Pockets Philly Steak and Cheese, 9 oz., UPC 43695 07107 8
Batch numbers:
- 3021544512 with a best before date of March 2014
- 3029544512 with a best before date of March 2014
- 3197544512 with a best before date of September 2014
- 3240544512 with a best before date of October 2014
Hot Pockets Philly Steak and Cheese, 54 oz., UPC 43695 07520 5
Batch numbers:
- 3022544513 with a best before date of March 2014
- 3191544512 with a best before date of September 2014
- 3224544512 with a best before date of October 2014
- 3254544512 with a best before date of November 2014
- 3268544512 with a best before date of November 2014
Hot Pockets Philly Steak and Cheese, 22.5 oz., UPC 43695 15990 5
Batch numbers:
- 3197544512 with a best before date of September 2014
- 3240544512 with a best before date of October 2014
Hot Pocket Croissant Crust Philly Steak and Cheese, 9 oz., UPC 43695 05634 1
Batch numbers:
- 3211544512 with a best before date of September 2014
- 3248544512 with a best before date of November 2014
- 3283544512 with a best before date of December 2014
Consumers who may have purchased the affected Hot Pocket Philly Steak and Cheese products should not eat them, but instead return it to the place of purchase for a full refund or contact Nestle Consumer Services at (800) 392-4057.
