On Thursday, Gerber Products Company voluntarily recalled two organic baby foods. The company cited a discovered packaging defect that could possibly cause the contents of the pouches to spoil while being transported from the packaging plant to their retail destination. Here's how to tell if your Gerber pouch is part of the recall.
According to Gerber and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, two kinds of Gerber Organic 2nd Foods Pouches are being recalled: "Carrots, Apples, and Mangoes," and "Pears, Carrots and Peas." If they have spoiled, the pouches will appear to be full of air due to the decomposition of their contents. In a statement released by Gerber with the recall and attributed to Gerber President and Chief Executive Gary Tickle, he said, "As a result you may notice that, in some cases, those pouches are bloated or product inside may have an off-taste or odor. We are proactively working to retrieve all remaining pouches of the affected batches that fail to meet our quality standards."
CNN reported that the recalled organic pears, carrots, and peas pouches have best-by dates of July 12, 2016, with batch number 51945335XX, and July 13, 2016, with batch number 51955335XX. Your pouches should have those numbers stamped and printed clearly on the back of the package. The recalled carrots, apples and mangoes pouches say they are best-by July 13, 2016, and they have batch number 51955335XX. They also may say they are best-by July 14, 2016, with batch number 51965335XX. Gerber said that anyone with these batches should not open the products, and should instead immediately contact the Gerber Parents Resource Center at 1-800-706-0556. They will provide anyone with defective pouches with replacement coupons and tips on safe disposal.
While the recall should be taken seriously, there have only been three reports of mild gastrointestinal symptoms, and the FDA has been unable to confirm those reports were caused by this spoilt product. The low numbers may be due in part to Gerber's quick response. If you think you may have fed your child one of the recalled pouches, call your doctor immediately, and after they have received the care they need, do not hesitate to contact Gerber to report the incident.
Gerber has made it clear that it is trying to resolve this issue quickly so that it can maintain its reputation for high-quality products and service. Tickle concluded his statement with an empathetic note, according to Gerber's website:
Speaking as a father, I understand that giving your little one the best is the most important thing. That's why the quality of our baby foods is our top priority. I sincerely apologize for any concern this may have caused. For more than 90 years we have put babies first in everything we do and you can trust that we will continue to do so.
