10 Of The Biggest Recalls In Kraft's History

Since being founded in 1903, Kraft has become one of the biggest food manufacturing companies in the United States. After merging with Heinz in 2015, the company now owns over 200 brands, each of which produces a variety of products. While this huge array means Kraft is now worth over $40 billion, it also all but guarantees that the company will produce and distribute the odd batch of faulty products from time to time.

Recalls are a reality for any food manufacturer. Bacteria, foreign materials, and mislabeling are constant risks in the business, and while all companies strive to create safe products every time, the reality is that they'll probably fall short on at least one occasion. In these instances, companies hope that the subsequent recalls are executed quickly and efficiently so no one is sickened or injured by the offending products. They also hope that the total amount of faulty food that requires recalling is small, to minimize costs. Unfortunately for Kraft, while its products rarely make people ill, the company does have a history of issuing recalls that are huge in scope — as the following examples highlight.

In the summer of 2015, Kraft issued a recall for 36,000 cases of its Kraft Singles American cheese slices after it was discovered that a piece of plastic film remained attached to the cheese after the wrapping had been removed. 10 customers complained about this issue with three stating that the plastic film had made them choke. The company initially traced the issue to two production lines that were used to make the product, suggesting that a mechanical error was to blame.

This recall was greatly expanded just over a month later when two further customers complained of choking on the plastic film. A further 335,000 cases were recalled, bringing the total up to a staggering 371,000 cases. To further complicate matters, many of these cheese slices had been shipped abroad to countries including Belize and South Korea. Regardless of where they were sold, every single one of these cheese slices was returnable for a full refund, undoubtedly causing Kraft to lose thousands of dollars.

August 2022 saw Kraft issue a voluntary recall for 5,760 cases of Capri-Sun Wild Cherry Flavored Juice Drink Blend. This recall was initiated after several customers complained about the product having a different taste than usual. It was subsequently discovered that the beverage contained some of the diluted cleaning solution used to clean the production equipment in the factory where the beverage was made. It is not known how this cleaning solution ended up in the beverage itself.

Each case of the affected product was made up of four cartons shrink-wrapped together. Every carton contained 10 pouches of the beverage, meaning approximately 230,400 Capri-Sun pouches were included in this recall.

While large in scope, PR and communications experts did not expect this recall to have a great effect on either brand's reputation. In an interview with The Drum, communications expert Jon Meakin said, "Kraft and Capri Sun are well-regarded brands that have built up a high degree of trust over many years. That, combined with the relatively modest scale of this recall, suggest that any reputational damage is likely to be modest and ... [probably] temporary."

One of the largest recalls in Kraft's history took place in May 2014 when the company issued a voluntary recall of 34 cottage cheese products that were sold under four different brands: Knudsen, Breakstone's, Simply Kraft, and Daily Chef. This recall was issued when Kraft discovered that 1.2 million cases of the cheese had been made with ingredients that might have been stored at the incorrect temperature. This left the cheese at risk of carrying potentially harmful pathogens and causing foodborne illnesses.

Depending on the product, six, eight, or 12 units were used to fill a case. This means that at least 7.2 million and up to 14.4 million tubs of cottage cheese were included in this recall. This is an absolutely staggering amount of product to dispose of and doing so likely put a large dent in Kraft's quarterly profit. However, the promptness of the recall did mean that there were no illnesses reported, meaning that the damage to Kraft's reputation was minimal.

Macaroni and cheese has been one of Kraft's most iconic products since it signaled a breakthrough in packaged foods all the way back in 1937. In the 21st century, however, this product has been getting some bad press, most notably when it was at the center of a mass recall in March 2015. The recall was issued after eight customers complained of finding pieces of metal in their food. In response to these reports, Kraft recalled individual, three pack, four pack, and five packs of its Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Boxed Dinner that were made on a faulty production line. A total of 242,000 cases were recalled, equal to approximately 6.5 million boxes of macaroni and cheese.

As reported by Sky News, Joyce Hodel, a spokesperson for Kraft, said, "We believe a piece of stainless steel got wedged in a metal piece of equipment, which may have generated friction that resulted in small pieces of metal potentially falling into the product." Given that this process resulted in fragments of metal entering the food, it is extremely fortunate that nobody was injured. 

In January 2014, Truitt Brothers Inc. — a manufacturer of Kraft products — issued a recall for a Velveeta cheese product. Specifically, the product in question was the Velveeta Cheesy Skillets Ultimate Cheeseburger Mac, a one pan dinner kit. This product was recalled after it was discovered that the label failed to list soy as an allergen. In turn, Truitt Brothers Inc. blamed its label supplier for mixing faulty labels with ones that were correct. Approximately 1.77 million pounds of the product were recalled. Around 339,814 pounds was actually recovered.

Consuming soy while allergic to it can cause a number of symptoms. These include stomach cramps, repetitive coughs, and, in some rare cases, anaphylaxis. It is for this reason that both Truitt Brothers Inc. and Kraft acted swiftly when the issue was discovered. Thanks to the companies' diligent work and a little bit of luck, there were no reports of anybody having an allergic reaction due to the mislabeled food.

735,000 cases of string cheese products that were sold under the Kraft and Polly-O brands were recalled in October 2013. This recall involved 22 different cheese string products and was issued after several customers complained that the food was spoiling well before its best-by date. The faulty products were traced back to a factory located in Campbell, New York. Production and distribution at this factory ceased while Kraft attempted to identify and resolve the cause of this early spoilage.

Given that the majority of recalled products were multipacks, the actual number of string cheeses affected by this recall will have been considerably higher than the case count. When combined with the product's wide distribution — the string cheeses were shipped to customers across the United States — executing this recall will have undoubtedly cost Kraft a huge amount of money, time, and effort.

Kraft was forced to issue another recall for its cottage cheese products in November 2019 when it was discovered that three products sold under the Breakstone's brand were contaminated with pieces of hard red plastic and metal. Although it wasn't confirmed, the presence of these materials in the food suggests that an error occurred somewhere on the production line. Six customers complained about this issue, triggering a recall of 9,500 cases.

Inedible contaminants such as these pose a huge risk to consumers. Not only can they lead to oral injuries, but also very serious internal injuries if they are consumed. Luckily, nobody incurred any injuries as a result of eating the faulty cottage cheese. But the three products were distributed across the United States and Latin America, making this recall a time consuming and costly one. All the more reason why Kraft will have been eager to put this recall behind itself as quickly as possible.

Thanks to its iconic yellow branding, Oscar Mayer is one of Kraft's most respected and well known brands. This probably made it all the more frustrating for the company when it had to recall 2,068,467 pounds of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon in August 2015 after several customers complained of it spoiling before the best-by date.

Three products were included in the recall: Oscar Mayer Selects Uncured Turkey Bacon, Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon Smoked Cured Turkey Chopped and Formed, and Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon Smoked Cured Turkey Chopped and Formed. These products were distributed across the United States and to both the Bahamas and St. Martin. Given this wide distribution, it was somewhat surprising that over 755,000 pounds of the faulty products were successfully recovered. Unfortunately, the public did not escape unscathed; some customers complained that they fell ill after eating the turkey bacon.

In July 2018, Kraft issued a recall for 7,000 cases of the Salsa Con Queso Mild Cheese Dip sold under the Taco Bell brand. The recall was issued because the dip had a tendency to split. Although seemingly harmless, this splitting could facilitate the growth of clostridium botulinum, a bacteria responsible for causing the potentially fatal illness known as botulism. Botulism poses a huge risk, because the toxin that causes it cannot be identified by sight, smell, or taste. Aware of the huge danger this bacteria poses, Kraft did the right thing and voluntarily recalled all 7,000 cases of the faulty product.

Thanks to Kraft's pre-emptive action, no illnesses were associated with the recalled product, even though it was shipped to retailers across the United States. This will have been some consolation for the company as it set about calculating the losses associated with this recall.

In April 2014, a mishap led Kraft to recall around 96,000 pounds of Oscar Mayer Classic Wieners. The problem was that these packages did not contain the Classic Wieners at all but the brand's Classic Cheese Dogs, a new and well-reviewed addition to Oscar Mayer's product line-up. Aside from surprising customers, this swap meant that milk, an allergen used to make the Classic Cheese Dogs, was not listed on the product's packaging. The mistake was traced back to a factory in Columbia, Missouri. Thankfully, there were no reports of any allergic reactions caused by the mispackaged products.

As one of three huge recalls that Kraft issued in 2014, the others being for 1.77 million pounds of Velveeta Skillet Singlets and 1.2 million cases of cottage cheese, this recall could not have come at a worse time. With over 3 million pounds of recalled products coming from these three recalls alone, Kraft's 2014 was definitely a year to forget.