Are you coping with food allergies and worried about cross-contact with particular allergens? Now you have an additional worry: urine in your Rice Krispies. And no, urine does not require special disclosure under the FDA’s FALCPA allergen guidelines.
As you may have heard, the video of a man urinating on a Kellogg’s assembly line in 2014 was posted to worldstarhiphop.com Friday night. Here is the report from WREG in Memphis with a warning – this is not for the faint of heart:
In response, Kellogg’s issued the following statement:
“Kellogg takes this situation very seriously and we were shocked and deeply disappointed by this video that we just learned of yesterday. We immediately alerted law enforcement authorities and regulators. A criminal investigation is underway as well as a thorough internal investigation.
“Our investigation revealed that the video was recorded at our Memphis, TN facility, in 2014. Products that could have been potentially affected were Rice Krispies Treats, Rice Krispies Treats cereal and puffed rice cake products, all of which would be past expiration date.
“Food quality is of the utmost importance to Kellogg Company. We are outraged by this completely unacceptable situation, and we will work closely with authorities to prosecute to the full extent of the law.”
We can add our voices to the outrage here, but it goes without saying that this was a criminal offense that must be dealt with swiftly and the perpetrator prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
That said, we wonder how long after the incident the company continued to manufacture on the affected line before it was adequately sanitized to remove all traces of urine. And if it took the company long to recognize contamination with urine, is it any wonder that cross-contact from allergens may go unnoticed for weeks or months at a time?
We leave that question as “food for thought”.
