Life

How To Tell If Your Lunchables Were Recalled Because of Mislabeling Allergens

by Laura Hankin

Ah, Lunchables, that venerable childhood lunch institution. The school cafeteria doesn't seem complete without them, but parents may want to double-check the packages they're planning on putting into their children's lunchboxes. Kraft Heinz recently issued a recall of the product due to allergy concerns after misbranding, so here's how to tell if your Lunchables were recalled.

According to a press release, Kraft Heinz is recalling about 959 pounds of their "Lunchables Ham and American Cracker Stackers," because they were accidentally mislabeled with a "Nacho Lunchables" back label. Consequently, the allergy warnings are way off, and the product labels do not properly warn that the cracker stackers contain wheat and soy. If you're wondering whether or not you happened to pick up some of the mislabeled packages, here's the official product labeling to watch out for, according to the release:

3.4-oz. boxes containing four-compartment plastic trays of “Lunchables Ham and American Cracker Stackers,” with a “USE BY” date of 25 DEC 2016 and production times ranging from 9:13 to 10:00 stamped on the side of the plastic container.

Additionally, according to the release, the products will be labeled with the "establishment number 'EST. 537K' inside the USDA mark of inspection." And the mislabeled products were shipped to Utah and California.

Although this is a Class 1 recall, which means that the risk is high, there have so far been no confirmed reports of children or adults being adversely affected by the mislabeling since it was reported via consumer complaint on October 6, 2016. Still, parents of children with allergies should definitely double-check, and parents of children without soy or wheat allergies should also take a look. After all, if I'm remembering my elementary school days correctly, Lunchables were the prized lunch to have, and all the kids wanted to trade. Assuming your child is the generous type, and has friends who may have some of the pertinent allergies, the mislabeled package could cause some damage.

The press release urges consumers to throw out the affected Lunchables, or to return them to the place of purchase, to be totally safe. Consumers with any questions can call 1-800-573-3877 to speak with a representative at the Kraft Heinz Consumer Relations Center.

Your child may not be happy to have to lay off the Lunchables for the moment, and go back to regular lunches (strange, to look back at Lunchables and think how they used to light up my day), but it's definitely better to be safe than sorry on this one.