Wire fragments found in popular children’s snack

WIRE fragments discovered in a popular children’s snack has led to a recall of Dairylea lunch products.

The products affected are all Lunchables Stack’ems of the variety which combine crackers, cheese and cooked meat along with drinks.

Kraft Foods confirmed it was alerted by five complaints to a customer hotline service. One British parent claimed a child suffered a minor mouth abrasion.

Kraft Foods said the recall of a number of batches of Lunchables was a precautionary measure.

The company said consumer safety was paramount and, in addition to placing advertisements and notifying the relevant authorities, trade customers had also been informed.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland said there were no complaints from Irish consumers.

“There’s been no report cases here,” said the FSAI’s chief specialist in environmental health, Jeffrey Moon. “The company is taking a responsible action by issuing information notices to the public and conducting a recall.”

According to Mr Moon, only one of the Dairylea branded products was affected by the recall alert in Ireland. It’s the Tasty Chicken lunchable, which is available in a 110g packet, plus a 200ml drink, with an expiry date of October 6, 2003.

In a statement yesterday, the company conceded: “Kraft Foods have found evidence that the cracker biscuits in a number of varieties of Lunchables’ products may contain small fragments of wire.

“Investigations show that this was due to an isolated manufacturing incident on a production line at a third party supplier.”

The company said that only the cracker biscuits were affected and the other food items, including those with drinks attached, were perfectly safe to eat.

The FSAI has advised environmental health officers of the alert notification. However, with no complaints in Ireland, no action is required by the environmental health authorities.

The series of products affected are 110g packets of Tasty Chicken, Tender Turkey and Yummy Ham.

Only Lunchables identified by these specific batch numbers may be affected.

Newspaper advertisements today carry the list of products affected.