The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning about potentially “life-threatening” allergic reactions following the recall of cookies in nine states and the District of Columbia.
The FDA issued a recall statement on Monday for macarons sold by Lidl, a German cheap grocery retailer with over 170 outlets in the United States. The voluntary recall was originally issued on Friday and applies to “Deluxe” branded macaron sets labeled “Party Edition.”
“Lidl US has announced a voluntary recall of Deluxe branded Macarons Party Edition due to undeclared allergens,” the company’s press release reads. “The recall was issued due to undeclared wheat, soy, egg, milk, and tree nuts (almonds, pistachios, and coconut) in the products as a result of non-English ingredient labeling.”
“People with allergies to any of these are at danger of severe or fatal allergic responses if they ingest these goods. “To date, Lidl US has received no reports or complaints of illness associated with this product,” it adds.
Lidl stated that all of the concerned goods have a UPC barcode of 4056489365365. The macarons were sold at the company’s stores in Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, DC.
It was unclear when the macarons were available for purchase. On Monday, Newsweek emailed Lidl to get a statement.
According to Lidl’s release, “the issue was discovered internally after delivery to our stores.” Customers were advised not to consume the food and instead to “immediately return it to their nearest Lidl store for a full refund” without providing a receipt.
Those with additional questions regarding the recall were directed to call the company’s U.S. customer service hotline at (844)-747-5435 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Although no illnesses were recorded among people who consumed the contaminated Lidl macarons, undisclosed chemicals have the potential to trigger the often fatal allergic reaction anaphylaxis.
Earlier this year, a recall was issued for Florentine cookies sold by the Connecticut-based northeastern supermarket chain Stew Leonard’s in response to the January death of a woman who ate the cookies without discovering they included undeclared peanuts.
The victim was identified as Órla Baxendale, a 25-year-old U.K. national who traveled to New York City to pursue her career as a “world class” dancer, according to NBC New York.
Stew Leonard’s and the supplier of the cookies, Cookies United, each published comments that appeared to blame the other for the disaster, with the supermarket chain saying that the product was from a “outside” company and the supplier alleging that the ingredient list had been updated but ignored.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened,” Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli stated at the time. “Our condolences go out to the family affected by this incident.”