Pennsylvania consumers should be aware of the recent recall of a possibly contaminated back of Nestle’s Hot Pockets, specifically “not-ready-to-eat pepperoni hot pockets” that were produced over a three-day period in November of 2020. The Food Safety and Inspection Service, a governmental agency that falls under the Food and Drug Administration umbrella, alleges that the Hot Pockets products under recall were contaminated with pieces of glass and hard plastic.
Which Hot Pockets products are affected by the recall?
Reviewing the details of the recall per the FDA, it applies to the frozen pepperoni variety produced from Nov. 13 through Nov. 16, 2020. If you believe that you may have purchased a contaminated not-ready-to-eat pepperoni Hot Pockets product, you should first check the date of production. If it was indeed produced between November 13 and 16, then you should look at the so-called “establishment number” next to the FDA mark of inspection. The recalled products’ establishment number is EST. 7721A.
If you or a loved one has been exposed to one of these contaminated products and suffered an injury, you may qualify for compensation for any damages that you incurred. This may include hospital stays, pain and suffering, personal income losses due to an inability to work and others.
How to protect your legal rights
The FDA has so far received only one complaint of a “minor oral injury” due to the ingestion of hard plastic and glass contamination of Hot Pockets products. However, as the FDA moves through the initial stages of this recall and the public becomes aware of the problem, there may be more personal injuries.
While the FDA and other regulatory bodies usually do a thorough job of inspecting food products for safety, the sheer volume of materials that an agency with a limited budget like the FDA must inspect makes for hard work and, unfortunately, human error at times. Always inspect food carefully before you eat. Stay up to date with food recall information from the FDA and other groups that monitor food quality.
Finally, know your legal rights in terms of compensation for any negligence on the part of manufacturers. A products liability attorney may help you understand your rights.
