FDA Issues Serious Warning As Bread Sold in Six US States Recalled Over ‘Glass Fragments’
The crisp golden breads in club sandwiches and toasts are the showstoppers of tea-time gossip and evening parties. In busy mornings, when the clock is ticking too fast, most people find the bread in their fridges as their greatest supporters. However, lately, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning people to stop where they are and not put even a morsel of bread in their mouth, for, instead of the usual crispiness, they might be welcomed with a crunch that could break their teeth out of their gums. In a recent “product recall” report, the FDA announced that bread being sold throughout the U.S. might be contaminated with “glass fragments.”
Product recall, according to ASQ, is a request to the customers to return, exchange, or replace a product after a manufacturer or a consumer watchdog group has discovered a defect in the product that could hinder performance, harm consumers, or produce legal issues for the producers. In this case, the product was different varieties of baked bread. The bread in question was tested from three products sold at the Upper Crust Bakery LP in Pennsylvania, Maryland. The products included “Ancient Grains Hoagie Roll, Multigrain Sourdough, and Whole Grain Multigrain.”
Each of the three bread items was packaged in corrugated paper cartons and was sold in the frozen aisles of the stores. These rolls were sold in retail stores across six states in the U.S, including Pennsylvania, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, and Ohio. In total, the FDA reported “818 cases of Upper Crust Bakery bread” suspected of containing glass splinters, including “699 cases of the company's 18-ounce multigrain sourdough packages, the largest portion of the recall,” per Fox Business. There were also “89 cases of four-ounce Ancient Grains Hoagie Rolls” and “30 cases of 20-ounce Whole Grain Multigrain bread” for the recall.
According to Men’s Journal, when ingested, the glass fragments in these rolls could cause injuries like chipped teeth, cuts in the mouth or throat, or even internal tissue damage. They could also trigger a potential choking hazard. This incident was reportedly classified as a “Class II recall,” which implies that the product may cause temporary or medically reversible health problems, but is unlikely to pose any long-term serious threat. Only a Class I recall is taken as a serious problem because it can lead to death, but this case of bread is not linked to any such serious type of issue.
A similar case came to light in early 2024 when the FDA posted a Class II recall for the bags of bread pastries that were likely to be contaminated with undeclared sesame seeds that could trigger an allergic reaction, reported Newsweek. In total, 16 bags were recalled, and each of them was sold by La Superior Bakery in Columbia, Tennessee, and distributed in Alabama. Martha Stewart reported that no illnesses have been reported in connection with the recall so far. But all the consumers who still have these breads stocked in their refrigerators should toss them in the bins or return them to the supplier and get a refund. Retail businesses should check their inventories for affected products.