Dive Brief:
- Kellogg is voluntarily recalling 10,000 cases of Eggo waffles from 25 states due to listeria contamination found during routine testing, according to a company statement.
- Only one variety of the frozen toaster waffles, the Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat flavor, is involved in the recall.
- Kellogg initiated the recall before any consumers reported illnesses.
Dive Insight:
Listeria thrives in the cold, particularly in cold and wet places. That includes plants with good refrigeration systems, which makes listeria complicated to eradicate entirely, Robert Tauxe of the CDC's foodborne-diseases division, told Today.com. Other recent major listeria recalls were also for typically cold-temperature products, including CRF Frozen Foods and Blue Bell ice cream.
According to the Washington Post, manufacturers can best eradicate listeria from products using pasteurization, or otherwise heating them during processing. But the logistics of heating typically frozen foods could end up sacrificing ingredient quality, and it could add up costs that eat into a manufacturer's profits.
Though, ice cream, which consumers generally eat without heating up themselves, might pose a greater risk than something like frozen waffles, which consumers usually cook before they eat. Eating foods raw has exacerbated a listeria-related flour recall for General Mills, in which consumers got sick after eating raw flour in the form of dough. Cooking the dough usually kills the pathogens, and frozen waffles are cooked before they are frozen, then usually cooked again by consumers.
This recall demonstrates an increased commitment to safety and transparency. Though nobody got sick, Kellogg took the risk of sacrificing trust in its Eggo brand based on the results of an internal test. Newly enforced regulations for the Food Safety Modernization Act may have played a role in this decision.
Regardless, this shows Kellogg's commitment to greater transparency and honesty when it comes to food and beverage industry recalls.