PLANO, Texas -- Frito-Lay has voluntary recalled select half-ounce bags of Smartfood Delight Sea Salt Flavored popcorn due to traces of undeclared milk ingredients.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the popcorn bags were inadvertently filled with cheese-flavored tortilla chips. The issue was discovered after a consumer found the corn-based chips in a bag of Smartfood Delight popcorn. No illnesses have been reported to date.
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The recalled bags included 16-count Smartfood Delight variety packs and 16-count Crunch & Pop Mix variety packs with “use by” dates of Dec. 4, 2018, and Dec. 18, 2018, respectively. These bags were distributed in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Frito-Lay has issued several product recalls in recent years. In June 2016, the company recalled select Rold Gold Tiny Twists, Rold Gold Thins, Rold Gold Sticks and Rold Gold Honey Wheat Braided pretzels due to a potential peanut allergen. Less than two weeks later, Frito-Lay recalled its Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos tortilla chips due to undeclared milk ingredients.
In April 2017, the company recalled its Jalapeno Lay’s Kettle Cooked potato chips and Jalapeno Miss Vickie’s Kettle Cooked potato chips due to the potential presence of salmonella in the seasoning. Most recently, in June 2018, Frito-Lay recalled select bags of Ruffles Original and Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream potato chips in northeastern Ohio and Altoona, Pa., due to a contamination of cleaning solution.
Smartfood Delight has dominated the ready-to-eat-popcorn category up until this point. The brand garnered more than $119 million in total convenience-store sales in 2017—a 4.9% increase from 2016—making it the top-selling popcorn brand in c-stores by more than $100 million, according to Chicago-based data firm IRI.
Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with a portfolio of more than 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Besides Plano, Texas-based Frito-Lay North America, its main businesses are Pepsi, Quaker, Tropicana and Gatorade.
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