If you've treated yourself to one of Tesco's new summer desserts, you might want to check the freezer before reaching for a spoon. Tesco has recalled its Finest Summer Edition Chocolate Affogato Dessert after it emerged that the product may contain pieces of plastic. The Food Standards Agency has flagged this as a product recall -- and rightly so. Plastic fragments in food can cause cuts or injuries to your mouth, throat, or digestive system, and unlike an off taste or funny smell, there's no reliable way to spot them before they cause a problem.
The recall covers a single product:
This is a broad recall -- it's not limited to a single batch. If you have this dessert in your freezer, regardless of which best-before date is printed on the packaging, it's covered. Don't assume yours is fine just because it looks normal from the outside. Plastic contamination isn't the sort of thing you can eyeball through a tub.
If you have this product at home:
It's worth double-checking with anyone else in the household too. This is the kind of product that might get scooped out by someone who missed the news, especially now the weather's warming up and frozen desserts are back in rotation.
Physical contamination recalls like this one are unsettling because they affect products that look and smell perfectly normal. You can't tell by looking at a tub of dessert whether there's plastic lurking inside. The only safe move when a recall like this comes out is to stop eating, return the product, and move on. Keep an eye on this site and the FSA's alerts page -- a quick check now and then is one of the easiest ways to keep your household safe.