Trader Joe’s, a chain of grocery stores with 560 outlets across the United States, last Friday was forced to announce three product recalls, the most recent being its Fully Cooked Falafel, because it “may contain rocks.” Friday’s announcement followed the chain’s recalling two cookie products that may also contain rocks. And last Thursday, Trader Joe recalled its Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup because it “may contain insects.”
“If you purchased or received any donations of Fully Cooked Falafel, please do not eat them. We urge you to discard the product or return it to any Trader Joe’s for a full refund,” the chain announced.
Fully Cooked Falafel is suspected of containing rocks in at least 33 states, according to the company announcement last Friday.
The chain also announced that all the affected products have been removed from stores or destroyed. The broccoli cheddar soup recall affects Florida, Illinois, California, Texas, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, according to the FDA, which cited 10,889 affected cases altogether so far.
Trader Joe’s Almond Windmill Cookies and Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies were also found to contain rocks.
“We will never leave to chance the safety of the products we offer. We err on the side of caution and are proactive in addressing issues,” the company said on Friday. “We take action quickly, aggressively investigating potential problems and removing product from sale if there is any doubt about its safety or quality. We don’t wait for regulatory agencies to tell us what to do. We share news through in-store signs, on our website, and through email alerts as soon as we need to let our customers know there might be a concern with any of our products. We take these matters seriously — personally, even, as our families eat and drink TJ’s products.”
The recall notices for all the products took place after the company had been “alerted by our supplier” about the contamination, which suggests the problem started before the products reached Trader Joe’s shelves. However, all the products were Trader Joe’s-brands.
