Kraft recalls American Slices over 'premature spoilage' fears

31-Aug-2014 - Last updated on 01-Sep-2014 at 11:44 GMT

Nearly 8,000 cases of Kraft American Singles have been recalled in the US over concerns about "premature spoilage."

In a notice published on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website late last week, Kraft Foods announced it was recalling 7,961 cases of four varieties of Kraft American Singles with the use-by dates of February 20 and 21, 2015.

The recall was initiated by Kraft when it discovered ingredients used in the products were not stored at the correct temperature by a supplier.

"A supplier did not store an ingredient used in this product in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards," said a recall notice published on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website.

“While unlikely, this could create conditions that could lead to premature spoilage and/or foodborne illness; therefore, the company is issuing the recall as a precaution."

In the meantime, it urged consumers not to eat the American Cheese Slices in question, which to date have not been linked with any complaints of illness.

Premature spoilage

In the last 12 months, fears of "premature spoilage" in cheese products has driven Kraft to initiate three separate US recalls.

Kraft pulled 1.2m cases of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese, Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese, and Daily Chef Cottage Cheese from the US market in May 2014 when it discovered ingredients used in the products were not stored in accordance with its temperature standards.

In a near identical statement, Kraft said in May that "this could create conditions that could to premature spoilage and/or foodborne illness."

Seven months earlier, Kraft recalled 725,000 cases of Kraft and Polly-O brand string cheese after a number of consumer complaints of "premature spoilage."