Some consumers of this Midwestern sweet treat could be affected by a detail that was overlooked.
Food allergies affect a reported 33 million Americans, based on national data, making it critical for food manufacturers and packagers to accurately label ingredients. And, while most everyone knows that milk is present in dairy ice cream, it’s lesser known that often, so is egg.
Serious Eats has explained that “almost every [ice cream] recipe published in the last 50 years calls for” eggs—specifically, the yolks, which “bind fat and water together in a creamy emulsion … Eggs leverage the fat already present in the ice cream base (the butterfat in cream and milk) and make it work even further for a creamier texture.”
That’s what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicates has caused a recall on 14,640 gallons of ice cream—packaged in 4,880 three-gallon tubs—of Michigan-based House of Flavors ice cream, reportedly flavored as “Chicago Vanilla.” The FDA published a report this week indicating that the product included “undeclared egg.”
The product codes reportedly associated with the recall are listed as 24059, 24130, 24207, 24342, 25105, 25120, 25134, 25206, 25254, and 25301. The FDA report notes the recall was initiated on February 26 and impacts product that was distributed to Illinois.
The agency has not yet stated which risk level it will assign, but undeclared food allergens often receive Class I recall status, the FDA’s highest risk level, due to what their experts determine is “a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”
House of Flavors is a West Michigan-based ice cream maker that says they make 28 million gallons of product each year, making it “Michigan’s largest ice cream manufacturer.” They add that since 1979, the company “focuses on sales through grocery store distributions and co-packaging for other companies.”
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