If you’re searching for a low-calorie snack to hold you over during the mid-afternoon lull that always comes after lunch, you could do a lot worse than rice cakes. Sure, they’re not the most filling, but they tend to be pretty delicious, and Quaker has built an entire business around various types of puffed rice products, including “rice crisps,” which are essentially tiny rice cakes. Unfortunately, some of those tasty snacks are now being recalled due to an undeclared ingredient that could lead to a life-threatening allergic reaction.
According to the recall bulletin posted by the FDA, the Quaker Oats Company is recalling thousands of bags of its Quaker Rice Crisps in sweet barbeque flavor due to the possibility that the product contains soy. Soy allergies can be extremely serious and if someone with a soy allergy eats the snack without realizing there is soy in it, they could be at risk for a severe reaction.
According to the company, the product in the bags may not be what it says on the packaging. The company notes that someone may be at risk “if they consume the product inside the recalled bags,” which makes it sound like a product packaging mix-up. The statement by Quaker doesn’t explicitly state it, but it wouldn’t be surprising.
This tends to be one of the main reasons that products are recalled when allergy concerns pop up. Sometimes a type of food that has soy in it will make it into the wrong bags and, when that happens, the product has to be recalled even if the food inside would be safe to eat for anyone without the specific allergy. The recall doesn’t state what flavor of snack may have ended up in the recalled bags, but even if you don’t have a soy allergy it’s a good idea to follow the directions of the company.
The company notes that approximately 4,500 bags are included in the recall, and because Quaker is a national brand, those bags were shipped across a whopping 21 states. The following states received the now-recalled snack: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
If you bought the recalled food you are advised to just throw it out. “We advise you not to consume the product and urge you to dispose [of] it,” Quaker says. If you feel like just throwing it away, that’s fine, but you can also take it to the store where you purchased it and received a refund in exchange for the recalled product.
Additional information, including the product UPC code and other identifying information that can help you spot the recalled bags, is available on the recall page posted by the FDA. Snack safely!
