The Name Brand That Had To Recall More Than 216,000 Pounds Of Sauce Off Store Shelves
In a battle of store-bought pasta sauces, we found that Ragù brand sauce handily bested Prego, thanks to the former's savory taste, pleasing texture, and variety of flavors. Ragù, which was developed from an Italian family recipe and kicked off commercial production in 1946, is a grocery store staple that can save home chefs lots of time in the kitchen. Despite its long history of success, the brand has run into some issues the along the way. This includes a recall that took place in 2019 over concerns about plastic fragments found in select jars of Ragù.
While many food recalls are initiated by customer complaints, a representative for Mizkan America (the parent company of Ragù as well as other brands like Bertolli and Nakano) told Consumer Reports awareness of the issue resulted from "[the company's] normal course of operations and quality checks." Three sauce varieties were affected by the recall, including Old World Style Meat, Old World Style Traditional, and Chunky Tomato Garlic & Onion. Overall, 216,202 pounds of sauce (for a total of 9,130 cases) were involved in the recall. Thankfully, the incident was contained, as all affected products were manufactured between June 4 and June 8, 2019. No injuries were reported.
Read more: 14 Canned Tomato Brands, Ranked Worst To Best
As illustrated by the 15 most deadly recalled foods in U.S. history, bacteria like Listeria (responsible for the Boar's Head recall of 2024) and Salmonella (impacting multiple cantaloupe brands in 2023) are often a factor when it comes to consumer risks. However, the presence of foreign objects like glass, metal, or in the case of the 2019 Ragù recall, plastic, can also be highly problematic. Mizkan America never explained how the foreign object contamination happened, and it's not clear whether the company has ever specified the source. It is worth noting that the National Institutes of Health cites plastic contamination as a common cause of food recalls, as the material is estimated to be a factor in one of ten recalls occurring since 2003.
As for the dangers of plastic in food, larger fragments can pose a choking risk or potentially cause internal injuries. While significantly less serious, plastic pieces can also cause dental issues and injuries if a person bites down on them. Plastic contamination doesn't typically rise to the level of a Class I FDA recall, the most serious classification and most likely to cause substantial health effects, but that doesn't mean these issues shouldn't be taken seriously. Fortunately for Ragù and its parent company, the 2019 recall was relatively minor.
Read the original article on Mashed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
26 minutes ago
- CBS News
What happens when we sneeze, and why does it feel good?
Here's what happens in your body when you sneeze Here's what happens in your body when you sneeze Here's what happens in your body when you sneeze The sights of summer, like flowers and grass, can lead to the sound of sneezing. For some, it's constant, for others, it's sporadic, but we all know how it feels. "When we get exposed to dust, strong smells, perfume, cigarette smoke, you are going to sneeze," said Dr. Pramod Kelkar, an allergist with Allina Health. Sometimes even the sun can make some people sneeze. "The brightness, the light can also trigger this lining of the nose," Kelkar said. Kelkar says sneezing is a neurological reflex. "The nerve impulses, they send a signal to the brain stem, where the sneezing center is located. Once the brain stem receives that signal, it sends a signal back to the motor neurons, that means muscles of the chest, the abdomen and throat area. They constrict, they increase the pressure, they constrict. Mouth opens, the nose opens and the air is pushed out at about 100 mph to get rid of that dust, to get rid of whatever foreign body is going into the respiratory track." That's why it's key to muffle and cover a sneeze. The National Institute of Health reports, "A sneeze can create 40,000 virus-containing droplets that reach a radius of 7-8 meters and suspend in the air for up to 10 minutes." So why does our body have such a dramatic response to simply protect? "Because if the air is not coming out at high speed, you will not be able to get rid of that dust particle. So it is a protective mechanism," Kelkar said. It's a process that sounds painful, but, oddly, it's the opposite. Some people say it feels "good" after you sneeze. "So the pressure is building in your chest, in the abdomen, in the throat area, that pressure is relieved. So you feel like that," Kelkar said. Research also shows some endorphins are released, creating a natural runner's high. Even though they are tough to suppress, sneezes are quick to endure. Kelkar says some people are triggered to sneeze when they walk in and out of warm and cold environments. He says the best way to get ahead of sneezes is to do a daily saline nose spray or rinse.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Party Politics Is Said to Have Played a Role in Kennedy's Firing of Vaccine Advisers
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has promised to make decisions rooted in 'gold-standard science,' fired an entire committee of vaccine advisers in part because all were appointed by a Democratic president and some had made donations to Democrats, according to a White House official and another person familiar with Mr. Kennedy's thinking. When he announced the firings on Monday, Mr. Kennedy cited the members' financial ties to industry and their 'immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives.' But according to the White House official and the other person, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an internal matter, Mr. Kennedy was also concerned with 'political conflicts.' The mass firing was another example of the unusually muscular — and sometimes chaotic — way that Mr. Kennedy has exercised his authority, often while setting vaccine policy. Like President Trump, Mr. Kennedy inserts himself in policy matters ordinarily left to underlings, and sometimes announces new policies on social media, with scant or no evidence to support them. Delegates to the American Medical Association, the nation's largest doctors group, which is holding its annual meeting in Chicago this week, adopted a resolution on Tuesday calling for Mr. Kennedy to immediately reverse his decision, and directed its leadership to ask the Senate Health Committee to investigate it. Two public health law experts said on Tuesday that Mr. Kennedy had the authority to fire all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, or A.C.I.P., which gives guidance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But both said that federal law required him not to act in an arbitrary manner. 'The secretary has ultimate authority, but he can't exercise that authority arbitrarily, casually, haphazardly — he actually needs to use a deliberative process,' said one of those experts, Lawrence O. Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University. 'I think he's very vulnerable to a judicial challenge.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
NIH Revolts: Scientists Decry Budget Cuts, RFK Jr. Political Interference, Warn Of Long-Term Public Health Damage
Over 340 current and recently terminated U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) employees have publicly protested the Trump administration's deep cuts to the agency's research budget. What Happened: Reuters noted that more than 60 NIH employees signed a letter, accusing NIH leadership — including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy — of allowing political interference to override scientific priorities. The stakes are high, they noted, citing how patient safety is at risk and public resources are wasted. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Signatories claim in the letter that the agency has eliminated 2,100 research grants worth $9.5 billion and cut another $2.6 billion in research contracts since Trump took office in January. The letter, also addressed to NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and members of Congress, comes ahead of Bhattacharya's scheduled testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. The letter states that the cuts have halted clinical trials and left patients without oversight for experimental treatments or implanted devices. The employees told Reuters the terminated programs represented years of work and financial investment. They warned that the cuts were made without proper review, sometimes bypassing peer evaluations in favor of political It Matters: Bhattacharya said the letter mischaracterized NIH's recent policy directions. Citing internal staff reports, Reuters highlighted that the Trump administration has proposed slashing NIH's budget by $18 billion next year. This would reduce it by 40% to $27 billion. Nearly 5,000 NIH employees and contractors have already been laid off under Kennedy's restructuring of U.S. health agencies. In February, a complaint was filed arguing that 'Without relief from NIH's action, these institutions' cutting-edge work to cure and treat human disease will grind to a halt.' The lawsuit also mentioned, 'In issuing the Rate Change Notice, the NIH has also acted beyond its statutory authority and has failed to promulgate the change using notice and comment rulemaking.' In March, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled a sweeping restructuring plan to cut costs, streamline operations and refocus priorities. The restructuring will reduce the HHS workforce by 10,000 full-time employees, leading to annual savings of $1.8 billion. Through early retirements and other initiatives, the total number of employees will shrink from 82,000 to 62,000. Read Next: The average American couple has saved this much money for retirement — How do you compare? If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it? Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article NIH Revolts: Scientists Decry Budget Cuts, RFK Jr. Political Interference, Warn Of Long-Term Public Health Damage originally appeared on
