The Ne-Mo's Cake Recall That Gave Us More Questions Than Answers
The most common reasons foods are recalled involve some pretty mundane issues. Sneaky salmonella, mislabeled allergens, and packaging problems can all cause retailers to pull food from their shelves. Make no mistake: there have been deadly food recalls in the U.S., and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays an important role in protecting us. But as someone who doesn't have food allergies and isn't at high risk for serious complications from salmonella, recalls rarely make me sit up and pay attention — except for the Ne-Mo's brand recall involving a bird foot in its cake.
While the reason for the recall was normal enough — a foreign material — the type of foreign material sure wasn't. Owned by Horizon Food Group, the brand initiated a recall after a customer discovered a bird foot in their chocolate cake. The recall didn't specify how the bird foot ended up in the cake, and I, for one, am at a loss. My best guess? An unfortunate bird got caught in production equipment somewhere along the line. But the downright bizarre nature of the recall invites wilder speculation. Did a hawk fly through the window and drop the remainder of its lunch in the batter? Was it some particularly depraved employee's idea of a prank?
Don't panic if you recently bought a Ne-Mo's cake. The recall was issued in 2019, and hopefully, the brand has upped their standards. Plus, it's safe to say that you should probably throw out any cake that's been sitting around since then, anyway.
How foreign objects end up in your food
The bird foot debacle may leave us mystified, but foreign objects can find their way into our food for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, these items come from the production process. In 2021, Panera recalled 6,384 pounds of ready-made soup after customers found pieces of a grey safety glove — presumably used for food prep — alongside chunks of chicken and tortilla. It's also not uncommon for nuts and bolts to fall off production equipment and accidentally get packaged with the food. Rodents and insects are another perpetual concern in food production, since it's a challenge for companies to keep foreign objects out when the foreign objects "want" to be there.
But the bird foot isn't the first downright bizarre thing to find its way into food. In 2017 the FDA issued a potato recall that affected millions, when frozen hash browns were pulled from shelves due to the presence of pieces of golf balls. The manufacturer, McCain Foods, explained that the golf balls might have been unintentionally scooped up during the potato harvest.
Some major brands use magnets, X-ray technology, and metal detectors to locate suspicious foreign objects, but even these measures can't catch everything. According to the FDA, a safe level of contamination — especially things like rodent hair and errant insects — gets a pass. Unappetizing as it seems, it's for a good reason. It would be virtually impossible to eliminate everything without seriously impacting our food supply. Still, I think I'll be a bit more careful about what I eat, going forward.