Students who don’t take a second look before a spoonful of cereal might have a sharp bite.
Last week, Kellogg Co. recalled about 36,000 boxes of its Special K Red Berries cereal.
Kris Charles, the company’s spokesman, said Kellogg recalled the products because of the possible presence of glass fragments.
No injuries have been reported, he said.
The recalled cereals are the 11.2-ounce retail package with a “Better if Used by” stamp from Dec. 2, the 37-ounce club store package with a stamp from Dec. 30 and the 22.4-ounce twin pack with a stamp from Nov. 30.
In October, Kellogg pulled 2.8 million boxes of its Mini-Wheats off the shelves after metal mesh fragments were found in the boxes.
UF food science and human nutrition assistant professor Soohyoun Ahn, whose expertise is in food safety, said she was surprised by the recall. She said the glass fragments are a physical hazard and are far less common than a chemical hazard like bacteria.
Ahn explained big companies like Kellogg have machines that can detect when metal pieces or packaging materials are in the food. She said consumers shouldn’t be too concerned because of the size of the recall.
“Considering how many products are produced, it’s a rather small recall,” she said.
Ahn believed the machinery might have malfunctioned and did not detect the glass. She also suspected the glass could have broken off from a machine.
Health science freshman Emily Parker, 18, whose favorite cereal is Kellogg’s Special K Red Berries, said she was surprised to hear about the recall. But she isn’t concerned. In fact, Parker said she would still buy the cereal.
“It’s a big deal that it’s glass, but accidents happen,” she said. “It’s not like it’s going to be in every cereal package.”
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
