A US food company is recalling 13 and a half tonnes of dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets after customers reported finding metal pieces in the product.
One individual in the US is said to have suffered a minor mouth injury after eating the Fun Nuggets.
Tyson Foods said “a limited number of consumers have reported they found small, pliable metal pieces in the product”, adding that “out of an abundance of caution”, it was recalling the 29,819lb (13,500kg) of nuggets.
The Fun Nuggets being recalled were produced at one US facility and shipped to distributors in nine US states, including California, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. They carry a “best if used by” date of 4 September 2024.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said the problem was discovered after the company notified it that there had been consumer complaints reporting small metal pieces in the product.
The FSIS added: “There has been one reported minor oral injury associated with consumption of this product … Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.”
The food watchdog said it was concerned that some of the nuggets may be in consumers’ freezers, and that if people had them in their home, they should throw them away or take them back to where they bought them.
This is not the first time Tyson has had to do a product recall for its meat products.
In November 2022 the company recalled 46 tonnes of raw ground beef products after customers reported finding “reflective mirror-like material” in the meat. In early 2019 the company recalled some of its chicken nuggets after consumers said they had come across small pieces of soft, blue rubber in them.
In September, the US food group Kraft Heinz announced it was recalling more than 83,000 cases of individually wrapped Kraft Singles American processed cheese slices because part of the wrapper could stick to the slice and become a choking hazard.
Earlier this year the American chain of boutique grocery stores Trader Joe’s announced it had recalled two of its own-branded cookie ranges after a supplier alerted the chain to suspicions of “rocks” in the dough.
