Lean Cuisine Turkey and Vegetable Pie Recalled Nationwide

WASHINGTON, July 18, 1996--A Nestle Frozen Food Company plant in Solon, Ohio, is voluntarily recalling about 21,000 packages of Lean Cuisine brand Turkey & Country Vegetable Pie containing egg not listed on the ingredient statement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today. Egg products can cause serious reactions in persons allergic to egg.

All packages of "Lean Cuisine Turkey & Country Vegetable Pie" with the code "6159NH P-695" debossed or indented on the side of the package are being recalled. No other product is affected by the recall.

The product was distributed to retail food stores in the following 18 states: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

"Because of the potential hazard to persons allergic to egg products, we urge consumers sensitive to eggs to avoid opening or tasting the recalled product," said Michael R. Taylor, USDA's acting under secretary for food safety and also administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. "We urge consumers sensitive to eggs who may have purchased the suspect product to return it to the place of purchase," Taylor said.

USDA was notified of the problem when the company discovered that some of the product produced under a old formulation containing egg had been erroneously packaged with labels for a new formulation of the product that does not contain egg.

Consumers with questions about the recall may phone the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-800-535-4555. The Hotline can be reached from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. This number also provides access to a telecommunications device for the deaf and the hearing impaired.

Editor's Note: To help consumers identify the product, the Nestle company has provided the following toll-free consumer inquiry telephone number: 1-800-225-1180. This number will be answered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday; a recorded message is available at other times. Media inquiries to the firm should be directed to Roz O'Hearn or Loretta Ivany at 216-349-5757.