Trader Joe's recalls black bean tamales, its sixth recall since July
Trader Joe's is recalling black bean tamales, the sixth product recall since July for the grocery chain, which has also had issues with falafel potentially containing rocks and broccoli soup that might contain insects.
The latest recall covers one lot of Texas Tamale Black Bean Tamales, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said may include an undeclared milk allergen. According to the August 25 recall notice, the Hatch Green Chile and Cheese Tamales were mistakenly packaged in Black Bean Tamale Bags.
Customers have been warned of potential food contamination for a number of Trader Joe's products during the past two months. The recent recalls include:
- Two kinds of almond cookies that could contain rocks
- Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup that could have "insects in the frozen broccoli florets."
- Fully Cooked Falafel that could contain rocks
- Multigrain Crackers with Sunflower and Flax Seeds that could contain metal
Trader Joe's told CBS MoneyWatch in an email that the flurry of recalls are "coincidental."
"Each recall was from a separate manufacturing facility," a spokesperson said in the email. "We have a close relationship with our vendors. We will never leave to chance the safety of the products we offer."
It added, "We pull the product from our shelves as soon as we are aware of an issue."
With the tamale recall, no illnesses have been reported, and potentially mislabeled products have been removed from sale, the notice said.
"The decision to recall these products was prompted by a consumer complaint that the items containing milk allergens were disseminated in packaging that failed to disclose the presence of milk," the notice added. "Subsequent investigative efforts have identified a temporary lapse within our packaging processes as the source of this issue."
The recalled tamales were sold in Trader Joe's stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
