Nestle Recalls Over 760,000 Pounds of Pepperoni Hot Pockets

The USDA website doesn’t list the retailers where the Hot Pockets were shipped, but the recall notice says they were distributed to stores across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. Some large grocers, such as Walmart, Target, Food Lion, and Kroger, have posted recall notices for this product on their websites.

This recall comes on the heels of another one for a Nestlé product for a similar reason. In December, Nestlé recalled its Lean Cuisine Baked Chicken frozen dinner after consumers reported finding hard white plastic pieces in the product.

Nestlé spokesperson Dana Stambaugh said in an email exchange that the two recalls are not related and that the company believes only a single batch (lot code) of Hot Pockets may contain the glass or plastic pieces, “but [we] chose to recall four batches out of an abundance of caution. We are continuing to investigate this matter thoroughly, and our top priority is the safety of our consumers.”

Finding plastic or glass materials in food, especially processed food, isn’t out of the ordinary, CR’s food safety experts have said. Mechanical breakdowns in food processing equipment can sometimes cause pieces of manufacturing materials such as plastic, rubber, or glass to wind up in the product.

If you have any of the recalled Hot Pockets in your freezer, throw them away or return them to the store where you bought them, the USDA and Nestlé say.