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6 Bizarre Things Actually Found In Your Food

by Alicia Lu
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By now you've probably heard about Kraft's massive Macaroni & Cheese recall, which pulled 6.5 million boxes of the orange-colored cheesy goodness off shelves. Kraft issued the voluntary recall on Tuesday after consumers found small metal pieces in the boxes. While the prospect of biting into and swallowing small metal pieces when you're just trying to enjoy some artificial mac and cheese is indeed terrifying — and every parent's worst nightmare — it's hardly the only scary object that's been found in a food product. Through the years, recalls have been made over even more dangerous, and bizarre, objects.

The recall comes after at least eight consumers reported finding metal pieces in boxes of original flavor Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Luckily, no injuries have been reported in connection with these reports. The company issued the following statement in conjunction with the recall:

Kraft has received eight consumer contacts about this product from the impacted line within this range of code dates and no injuries have been reported. We deeply regret this situation and apologize to any consumers we have disappointed.

They also provided information on how to obtain a refund for those who had purchased the recalled items — 7.25-oz. boxes of the original flavor with "best when used by" dates of Sept. 18, 2015 through Oct. 11, 2015, with the code "C2" printed below the date.While nobody wants to find sharp shards of metal nestled in their elbow pasta, Kraft's latest recall joins a long line of recalls that were made over not-so-edible objects. Frozen frog frittata, anyone?

Blue Polyurethane Balls

In February 2013, King Arthur Flour voluntarily recalled a limited number of its bags of flour because consumers found small blue polyurethane balls in them. The balls are used in the sifting process and somehow ended up in the final product. Luckily, they had no sharp edges and were easy to spot — come to think of it, it was probably like finding a toy prize in a bag of flour.

Nicotine-Laced Meat

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Sometimes, it's not the manufacturer's fault at all. In January 2003, a supermarket in Grand Rapids, Michigan, recalled 1,700 pounds of ground beef after 111 people became sick with nicotine poisoning. After an investigation, a grand jury indicted a store employee for contaminating 200 pounds of meat with an insecticide that contained high amounts of nicotine. The employee reportedly wanted to get his supervisor in trouble.

Though the poisoning could have been fatal and affected approximately 40 kids and a pregnant woman, luckily nobody died or suffered long-term effects.

Frozen Frog

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In October 2010, a Michigan couple found an unpleasant surprise in their bag of Meijer's store-brand frozen vegetables — a frozen frog. After the couple reported their discovery to the media, Meijer issued a recall of the frozen vegetables and inspected each bag. Imagine absentmindedly dumping that bag into a giant frittata and serving it at a dinner party — because that could have happened.

Glass In Baby Food

In 1986, Beech-Nut Nutrition Company recalled thousands of cases of baby food after consumers reported finding glass in the jars. Like the nicotine poisoning case, the FDA determined that the glass stemmed from deliberate contamination.

Around the same time, the FDA also received more than 100 reports of glass found in Gerber baby food. However, instead of recalling its products, Gerber allowed its jars to remain on store shelves.

IKEA Meatballs

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Say it ain't so! In 2013, IKEA recalled its famous meatballs — aka the best part of shopping at IKEA — after horse meat was discovered in them. The Swedish furniture company recalled 1,675 pounds of meatballs from its locations across Europe after tests done in the Czech Republic detected the horse meat.

Tiny Creature Found in Tuna

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This might not have prompted a recall, but it's still worth mentioning because nobody was able to say for certain what this thing was exactly. Last month, a British mom was about to make dinner for her kids with Princes canned tuna when she discovered something in the can looking back at her. It was a small creature with bulging black eyes that kind of looked like a cartoon — it would have been cute if it hadn't been hiding in their dinner.

Some experts claimed it was a tongue-eating parasite while others said it was a crab, but one thing is for sure: I'll be checking my cans of tuna more carefully from now on.

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