Finding something crunchy in a soft brioche is never a good sign -- especially when that crunch turns out to be plastic. Brioche Pasquier has issued a recall for its Pitch Chocolate and Hazelnut Brioches after discovering that some packs may contain pieces of plastic. The Food Standards Agency has flagged this as a product recall, and for good reason: swallowing plastic fragments can cause injury to your mouth, throat, or digestive system. It's the kind of thing that can turn a quick breakfast into a trip to A&E.
The recall covers a single product:
Only this specific batch is affected. Check the packaging for the batch code and best-before date -- if they match, your pack is part of the recall. If you've got a different batch code, you should be fine.
The contamination is described as "pieces of plastic," which could range from small fragments to more noticeable bits. Either way, they don't belong in your brioche, and eating them could cause real harm -- particularly for children, who are often the ones reaching for these at breakfast or as a snack.
If you have this product at home:
Parents and carers should be especially vigilant here. These brioches are exactly the kind of product that ends up in lunchboxes and gets eaten without much inspection. A quick check of the batch code before packing them off to school could save a lot of trouble.
Physical contamination recalls like this one are thankfully less common than allergen issues, but they're arguably more alarming. You can't see inside a sealed brioche without unwrapping it, so if your pack matches the recalled batch, don't take the gamble. Chuck it, email the company, get your refund, and pick up something else for tomorrow's packed lunch. Your teeth will thank you.