Plastic in Larabars: If you want this to stop then make some noise
In honor of Celiac Disease Awareness Month 2018,
A series of bites, barks, tail wags, face licks, and pant tugs from Gluten Free Watchdog
May 18, 2018
Gluten Free Watchdog Bark, Post # 18
Plastic in Larabars
The current problem of plastic in Larabars is not a gluten-free issue per se. But these bars are a go to snack food for many in the celiac disease community. These bars were my breakfast each and every day for years. I first came across plastic in my Larabar in 2015. Plastic showed up again in 2016. Needless to say, I stopped eating these bars. I will never eat another one. If General Mills is this sloppy with plastic what else are they sloppy with?
Background
For those not on social media here is the background information on these bars:
Yesterday a consumer reached out to me about pieces of plastic embedded in a Larabar purchased on April 28th. Plastic in Larabars has been an ongoing issue since at least 2012 based on photos on Twitter (https://twitter.com/search?q=plastic%20larabar&src=typd).
As mentioned above, I first found plastic in a Larabar in 2015. A formal complaint was filed with an FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator. After finding plastic again in 2016 General Mills assured me that they were working to resolve the issue. Fast forward to May 2018. Plastic in Larabars is still an issue.
Thank you to the consumer who reached out to me. Consumer photo posted with permission.
Statement from General Mills
Yesterday, I reached out to General Mills for comment. Their statement is posted below with permission.
“Thank you for reaching out on this topic. The pureed dates we use to make Larabars comes to us in a thin blue plastic liner. On rare occasions, a small piece of this flexible liner may be torn off in the manufacturing process and finds its way into the bar when we mix our ingredients together. This has been a stubborn issue to solve, and we have tried several solutions. Since we last discussed this issue with you, we have changed the liners that our pureed date supplier uses, resulting in a dramatic reduction in this issue. The bar you sent to us used the old liner. We sincerely apologize for this issue and will work with any consumer who contacts us to replace their Larabar. While FDA regulations do not consider this issue a safety hazard, we take it very seriously and are continuing to monitor the issue closely.”
Note: It is the case that FDA considers HARD plastic a safety hazard. It is unclear how the agency views softer pieces of plastic.
What should consumers do?
- Call General Mills
- File a formal complaint with an FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator.
- https://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ConsumerComplaintCoordinators/.
- Do not toss the bar or the packaging until you speak directly with FDA.
- If you are on social media, make noise–post photos in as many places as possible.
- Stop buying the bars!
Comments (18)
Geez, I used to get upset when I found a nut shell in my bar, you know, pre GM when the bar was not shrunken down for profit and quality I gradients were used.
One more reason not to eat processed food, you never reeeely never know what is in any of it.
I just now found a hard sharp piece of white plastic in a cashew cookie larabar.. This is crazy
Frank, if the plastic is hard then this could be a recall situation. Please contact an FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator. https://www.fda.gov/safety/reportaproblem/consumercomplaintcoordinators/
I just found blue plastic in my coconut larabar
Please report this to an FDA consumer complaint coordinator https://www.fda.gov/safety/report-problem-fda/consumer-complaint-coordinators.
Sounds to me like they take it seriously and are genuinely trying to address the issue instead of just sending a boilerplate response. I definitely get the initial outrage though.
Happen to stumble upon this. Still going on in January 2019! Got some chipped teeth to prove it ✌?
Hi Jamie, Please contact both General Mills and the FDA. Hard plastic as a foreign object in food, especially plastic that can chip teeth, is a recall situation.
I also contacted Larabars about a fairly large piece of white plastic I found in one of their bars. It was woven like tarp material. Needless to say, I was completely grossed out. I guess I’ll also contact GM. The plastic was about 1/3×1/2 inch, so not just a teeny bit. They may have resolved the blue plastic from the dates issue, but they obviously have other QC issues that need to be addressed. BTW, this happened less than two weeks ago …
Hi Laurie, Ugh! Did you happen to take a photo? If so send it along (info@glutenfreewatchdog.org) and I’ll reach out to my contact at GM.
I had a rock in my Larabar a couple years back in Chicago. Resulted in a $1500 root canal. After a couple month of back and forth with Larabar, they offered $200 towards the dental work. I refused. General Mills lawyers will only respond to a class action lawsuit. Search “Larabar rock cracked tooth” online and you’ll find/see multiple reports. Photos and all documentation of my situation are available to anyone who’s interested…
This literally just happened to me! There’s a small piece of shell or something and I bit down on it pretty hard. Don’t think I got any serious damage but it does hurt 😞 sucks bc I don’t want to buy any more now and it was my favorite snack bar
Me and my friend just bought 2 boxes of Lara Bars for $10… we were talking about how great they are with less ingredients and a much healthier option compared to most bars… the first bar my friend opened, he found a hard rock the width of a tooth or pencil eraser. It has a whitish-grey interior with a brown exterior. We found identical images online to what we found in our Larabar. We are terrified by multiple reports online of people who have had to pay money for serious dental work after biting this object — and it looks like Lara Bar / General Mills have not compensated many of them fairly. WE WILL NEVER BUY LARA BARS AGAIN. This is destroying people’s teeth/creating dangerous health issues, putting people in financial stress and irreparably destroying the Lara Bar brand. What a joke! I will consider never buying ANY General Mills products after this. Horrible!
If you haven’t already, please report your experience to an FDA consumer complaint coordinator https://www.fda.gov/safety/report-problem/consumer-complaint-coordinators
Hello I had glass in my larabar found in may 2019, I got a lawyer!
Just posting this to add to the conversation: I found a piece of plastic in my Larabar today
Ugh. Please consider reaching out to General Mills and filing a complaint with FDA https://www.fda.gov/safety/report-problem-fda/consumer-complaint-coordinators