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Are you a fan of Lean Cuisine? The brand of frozen entreés and dinners is sold in the United States, Canada, and Australia by Nestle. The brand was created in 1981 as a low fat, low calorie spinoff of Stouffers.

Low calorie options are nice to have, but not if the food has plastic in it. According to a Nestle recall over 10,000 pounds of Lean Cuisine frozen spaghetti and meatball dinners were recalled due to the possible presence of foreign materials, the Department of Agriculture said. However, the health risk associated with the recall is minimal, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service said. While consuming plastic is never a good idea, even if a recalled Lean Cuisine unit is eaten, there is a minimal probability of adverse health consequences, Reuters reports. 

The recall came after Nestle received complaints from consumers who claimed to have found hard plastic in their frozen Lean Cuisine meals, the FSIS said. Nestle has said that the recalled products were only sold easy of the Rocky Mountains. If you want to check your Lean Cuisine package, look out for 9.5 ounce units called "Lean Cuisine Simple Favorites, Spaghetti with Meatballs" with establishment number "EST 7991." They will also be marked best before November 2011. 

If you have questions about the Lean Cuisine recall, you can contact Nestle Prepared Foods Co. at (866) 606-8264 or leancuisine@casupport.com. You should not consume the product. Nestlé will provide a replacement coupon to reporting consumers and also may make arrangements to retrieve the product for further examination.

Related Resources:

• ALERT: Check your freezer; Lean Cuisine recall (cnycentral.com)
• Food Poisoning and the Law (FindLaw)
• Food Safety Resouces (FindLaw)