Food Recalls Are Pretty Common for Things Like Rocks, Insects, and Plastic

Packaging for Banquet Brand Frozen Chicken Strips which was recalled by ConAgra Brands on Sept. 2, 2023, due to possible foreign matter contamination. USDA via AP

Rocks in Trader Joe’s cookies. Insects in its broccoli-cheese soup. Pieces of plastic in Banquet frozen chicken strips.

In recent weeks, U.S. consumers have seen high-profile food recalls for an unappetizing reason: They’re contaminated with foreign objects that have no place on a dinner plate. And while no one wants to bite down on stainless steel in peanut butter or bone fragments in smoked sausage, this type of contamination is one of the top reasons for food recalls in the U.S.