Shopping at grocery stores is nowhere near the simple experience that it was a couple of years ago now, following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Customers today, of course, have to deal with everything from product shortages to a spike in prices. The latter a result of the record-high inflation levels lately.
Beyond that, labor shortages or isolated Covid outbreaks might also impact staffing levels at some stores — leading to, potentially, long lines at the cash register. Or perhaps fewer employees available to keep the grocery store’s shelves stocked.
Farther up the line, meanwhile, the grocery shopping experience can also be negatively impacted if there’s an issue in the product manufacturing process. Such as errors that ultimately lead to product recalls, which is something we, unfortunately, report on with greater frequency these days.
Lemon & Ginger Sicilian Soda recall
As far as those recalls go, we’ll first mention this one from Loblaw Companies, which in recent days confirmed that its PC brand Lemon & Ginger Sicilian Soda might include glass contaminants. Specifically, pieces of glass pieces possibly floating in the soda. So, of course, you should stop consuming the drinks immediately.
The Canadian recalls authority shared the news about these drinks, which have been sold nationwide. We’re mentioning it also because US consumers who routinely travel to Canada and who buy these drinks — in addition to anyone who purchased goods from Canada in recent weeks — should be on notice.
The Lemon & Ginger Sicilian Soda drinks come in packages containing four 200 ml bottles. You should be looking for UPC 0 60383 02157 3 and codes P 2021 SE 24 and BB/MA 2023 SE 24 to determine whether your soda is part of the recall. The UPC is on the bottom of the four-pack container, and the codes are printed on the soda caps.
The announcement notes that a consumer complaint triggered the recall action. Thankfully, however, there have been no reports of injuries related to the Lemon & Ginger Sicilian Soda. At least, not as of the time of this writing.
New candy recalls
A few days ago, meanwhile, we warned you about the El Chavito candy recall after the manufacturer discovered potential lead contamination. And now, we have more candy recalls to mention that involve a lead poisoning risk.
If you bought any recalled dried salted plums that we’ll talk about below from El Super Leon Ponchin Snacks, La Fiesta Food Products, or Rojas, you should stop eating them right now.
El Chavitos issued the salted plums recall this month (read the FDA announcement here). The action involves two types of candies. One is Saladitos Dried Salted Plums, and the other is Saladitos Enchilados Salted Plums w/Chili.
On the same day as the El Chavitos recall, El Super Leon Ponchin Snacks also issued a candy recall due to lead contamination. That recall follows lead testing from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). And the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published the recall announcement a few days later.
The recall covers El Leoncito and El Super Leon candies sold in California. They come in various weights including 1.05oz, 1.4oz, and 16oz. But we’re looking at similar flavors: Dry Salted Plum and Dry Salted Plum with Chili.
Royal Ice Cream recall expansion
Now, let’s move on to Royal Ice Cream Company. It issued a recall earlier this month, announcing that a few flavors of its delicious ice cream might have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. That’s a bacteria that can lead to fatal illnesses in some categories of people.
Citing the same bacteria issue, Royal Ice Cream just a few days later expanded the recall to include all the ice cream products it sells.
Initially, only three types of Batch brand ice cream flavors were included in the recall. Now, all the brands and ice cream flavors listed below are part of this massive recall:
- Batch brand pints, all flavors
- Royal Ice Cream Brand half Gallons, pints, cakes, all specialties.
- Ronny Brook Ice cream all flavor pints & 3 gallon tubs
- New Orleans Ice cream all flavor pints & 2.5-gallon tubs
- Maple Valley Ice Cream all flavor pints
- Art Cream all pint Flavors
- Sweet Scoops Yogurt all pint Flavors
- Gelato Fiasco all pint Flavors
- Biggy Iggy’s Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Munson Chip Wich Ice Cream sandwiches
- Giffords Ice cream Sandwiches all flavors
- Chewy Louie Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Snow Wich Ice Cream Sandwich
- Newport Creamery — Crazy Vanilla, Van & Choc , Vanilla & Coffee HG — only
All the products in the recall will have the manufacturing plant number “CT121” or “CT#121.” The company sold the products in retail stores across various states (MA, CT, RI, VT, NY, LA, FL, TX, NH). And the recalled ice cream was available in pints, half gallons, sandwiches, and portion control amounts.
La Fiesta Food Products
Meanwhile, the recall train affecting products sold in some grocery stores keeps rolling right along. On February 4, La Fiesta Food Products issued a candy recall that impacts all of its Saladitos Con Chile (Salted Plums with Chili) products. The candy can contain unsafe lead quantities that might be harmful to consumers.
To determine whether your stash is included in the candy recall, you should be looking for UPC 032327028290 on any La Fiesta Brand Saladitos Con Chile bags.
The company sold its salted plums in California, Nevada, North Carolina, and Georgia. The product was available in stores from December 1, 2021, through January 31 of this year. And the full FDA announcement is available at this link.
Additional grocery store product recalls
Rojas also issued a recall on February 7, citing potentially elevated lead levels in Lupag-branded Plain Dried Salted Plums. Check out the full announcement on the FDA website.
The potentially contaminated dried salted plums come in 0.5oz bags with the UPC code 725535011337. The company sold the products in Southern California through the end of December 2021.
In addition to the brands listed above and the El Chavito candy recall, American Gourmet has also now issued a similar candy recall. Announced via the FDA, American Gourmet Saladitos Dry Salted Plums have been recalled due to potential lead contamination.
Only one lot of the company’s candy is included in this recall: Lot 211203. These packages of Saladitos Dry Salted Plums have a sell-by date of 12/03/2022 and the UPC code 1578600104. The bags contain 1.5 ounces of plums and and were sold for $0.99 each.
