Choking Concerns Prompt Gerber To Recall Organic Rice And Oatmeal Cereals
Watch out parents, your babies might choke if you feed them Gerber organic rice or oatmeal cereals. The cereals may contain lumps that won't dissolve in either milk or water. From Gerber:
- "Gerber has received choking complaints, but no reports of injury. The FDA is aware of this recall."
475,000 affected 8 ounce cereal boxes were sold nationwide. Any organic rice with UPC codes 15000 and 12504, or organic oatmeal with the UPC codes 15000 and 12502 are part of the recall; the UPC codes are on the bottom right side of the boxes. Customers can return the cereals and receive a refund by calling Gerber at (800) 443-7237 or (231) 928-3000.
Gerber Recalls Cereals [AP]
Gerber
Announces Nationwide Voluntary Recall of Gerber ORGANIC RiceTM and Gerber ORGANIC OatmealTM 8 Ounce Cereals Due to a Potential Choking Hazard (PDF) [Gerber Products Company]
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Comments:
By the looks of it, they're ckhoking on the taste, not the lumps! Cream of Wheat gone wild.
Sometimes I wonder if America's bad eating habits start with BABY FOOD! I wish I knew then (as a new mother) what I know now (as a Mom of 5) that babies don't NEED baby food. They can go right from formula or nursing to table food! UGH...... and baby desserts! Getting the wee ones started on junk food at 6 months old.
more likely that people are too stupid to live. I've used this cereal for the kids before, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if the cereal has big lumps in it, don't feed the lumps to the baby.
It's also a matter of self pride. The parents making this cereal improperly most likely have not self esteem, and rightly so. If there are lumps, add a bit more water to dissolve the lumps. I think these people are more interested who gets kicked off their reality show than they are with their own offspring.
The fact Gerber went with a recall than with a public notice saying 'Add a bit more water if you see lumps and spend more time mixing the cereal than the 8 seconds before your TV show starts.' just shows how afraid corporations are of three little words, "Class action lawsuit."
So we're clear, I blame the people in this case (for being self-absorbed, and too stupid to notice the lumps), not Gerber.
Hrmmm... if parent is concerned about lumps a few quick bursts with either a stick blender or traditional blender should take care of the problem.
Well, that and using a bit more water/milk when making a dish of these "hot" cereals.
I want to know how big these lumps are.
@The_Shadow: I gathered from the article that these lumps just won't dissolve, no matter how hard you try. It's obviously manufacturing problem, and kudos to Gerber for issuing a voluntary recall. I'm glad they caught this before any babies were asphyxiated.
Considering the stuff is basically industrial-grade spackle, (smells retchid too), is it any wonder kids are choking on this garbage? I fully agree with skyeblue, both my daughters went straight from nursing to solids.
If they'd use baby cereal to glue the tiles onto the Space Shuttle they would NEVER have another problem with them falling like they do. Once that stuff gets on something it is practically impossible to get it off!
Baby cereal in its unprepared form is the same consistency as fish flakes -- I'd be very perturbed to find lumps in it! Parents really ought to notice such things before putting it in the kid's mouth (hell, they should notice before mixing up the cereal, you only make a couple ounces at a time), but I guess it's nice Gerber is helping the parents who don't know better...
The Safeway Organics brand does the same thing. I wonder if it's made by Gerber?