Nestle Prepared Foods Co. is recalling 500,000 packages of frozen Lean Cuisine mushroom ravioli after three customers reported finding glass fragments in the entrees. Lean Cuisine, which launched in the early '80s with the slogan "You'll love the way it looks on you," produces the ravioli with portobello & button mushrooms, romano & ricotta cheese in a creamy marsala wine sauce, with spinach & red peppers & low fat glass shards guaranteed to help you drop pounds (of blood). Talk about cutting calories, amirite?
According to the FDA, the production codes are 2311587812 and 2312587812; the “best before date” appears as DEC 2013. But Nestle says that, uh, "due to its popularity," there probably aren't many packages left in retail distribution. Lean Cuisiners therefore are urged to "examine their freezer inventory" to confirm that no glass-enhanced frozen lasagna entrees are lurking in there.
Should you find one of the potentially glass-filled products, Nestle warns that you "should not consume the product," no matter how many fond memories you may have of Grandma's "famous" Glass Shard Lasagna. (It's also a safe bet she wasn't using low-fat glass.)
USA Today points out that Lean Cuisine is often full of surprises. In 2011, Nestle recalled some other Lean Cuisine dinners after customers found red plastic in their food, and in 2008 Lean Cuisine entrees were recalled after chunks of blue plastic were discovered. In response to a question about all the recalls, Nestle's spokesperson said, "We observe stringent standards in our own facilities and with our vendors who supply ingredients to us." The company also says that no injuries were reported as a result of the glass shards. Of course, it can take weeks to die from internal bleeding!
