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Doing the right thing is never a hard decision

By Team Impossible

Update as of Friday, March 24, 2023: Retailers have confirmed that the 22 recalled lots of frozen Impossible chicken nuggets produced by OSI Industries, LLC between October 20 and November 23, 2022 have now been fully removed from store shelves, and all product available for purchase was manufactured after the recall dates.

When it comes to our food, we hold ourselves to the highest possible standards. After all, our mission is to positively impact people and the planet through our products, so our commitment to quality and safety is our #1 priority. 

Because of that commitment, we voluntarily and proactively made the decision to pull some of our plant-based chicken products off store shelves and out of distribution because of an issue we discovered at our co-manufacturer. While this is a very atypical situation, this action was the obvious and right decision to make. 

What happened: We recently received reports that small pieces of wood were found in some of our 13.5 oz retail packages of frozen Impossible Chicken Nuggets produced by one of our co-manufacturers, OSI Industries, LLC between October 20 and November 23, 2022. While this issue has affected less than 0.000005% of total packages of this particular product, this is simply unacceptable given that consumers and customers place their trust in us with every purchase of Impossible Foods they make. 

What we’re doing: Once we identified the issue, we immediately contacted the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to alert them and indicate that we would be issuing a voluntary recall. Even though only one chicken nuggets SKU presented issues, we made the decision to recall all of the products produced on that production line between October 20 and November 23, 2022 out of an abundance of caution.

Next steps

We’ve already contacted our distributors and retailers with instructions to immediately isolate the recalled products, and we’re grateful to them for taking immediate action. 

We’re actively working with OSI to improve OSI’s safety and product quality measures to ensure the highest possible standards. OSI has eliminated the use of wood that was determined to be the source of this issue. In addition, we have a product distribution team meeting daily to restock our customers’ shelves as soon as possible.

Looking ahead

Impossible Chicken Nuggets are an important product for the plant-based meat category, and they’re loved by consumers, who prefer our chicken nuggets to animal chicken nuggets in restaurants. Overall, we have been inspired by the response to this product.  

While we continue to appreciate the outpouring of love for Impossible Chicken Nuggets, we’re disappointed by any instance where our product hasn’t lived up to your or our expectations — this is not something we take lightly, and we are working hard to remedy the situation.  

To demonstrate our commitment to delivering only our best, high quality and delicious products, consumers and fans who have products that are covered by this recall can request a coupon for a future purchase. 

In the meantime, please know that we're very sorry this happened, and we're committed to holding ourselves and all of our food production partners to our very high standards to prevent this from happening again. 

FAQs

Q: How do I know if Impossible Food products in my possession are covered by this recall?

A: Each bag of Impossible Foods Chicken Nuggets Made from Plants has a SKU number and lot number which can be found next to the “if frozen, use by” date (the code begins with three letters and ends with a string of numbers). You can find the SKU numbers and lot numbers of all products covered by this recall.

Q: What do I do if I’ve already purchased Impossible Food products that are covered by this recall?

A: Consumers who may have purchased a product covered by the recall should immediately dispose of it and not consume it. 

Q: I have other Impossible Food products not covered by this recall. Are they safe?

A: Yes. You can continue to purchase and consume Impossible products not covered by this recall, including all Impossible Beef, Impossible Burger, Impossible Pork, and Impossible Sausage products made from plants, as well as Impossible Chicken Patties and Impossible Spicy Chicken Nuggets and Patties. 

Q: Does this recall include your Impossible Chicken Nuggets in non-U.S. markets? 

A: No. This recall does not affect any Impossible Foods products distributed outside of the United States.

Q: How do I receive a refund / reimbursement for Impossible Foods products in my possession covered by this recall?

A: If you have products that are covered by this recall, you can request a coupon for a future purchase.

Q: Will you refund me for Impossible Food products not covered by this recall that I no longer feel comfortable / safe eating?

A: Right now we’re offering coupons to consumers in possession of the products covered by this recall. However, we welcome your feedback about our products at any time.

Q: How did this happen? 

A: Our contract manufacturer, OSI, investigated the situation and determined that a small amount of product may have been exposed to wood during the production process at OSI’s facilities. OSI has eliminated the use of wood that was determined to be the source of this issue. 

Q: How can I trust your brand moving forward?

A: When it comes to our food, we hold ourselves to the highest possible standards. That’s why as soon as we received reports about this issue, we proactively notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about our intent to conduct this recall out of an abundance of caution. We do not take issues like this lightly, and we will always go the extra mile to ensure our products are the highest quality and produced, sourced and handled responsibly.

Q: What is Impossible Foods doing to make sure this doesn’t happen again?

The health and safety of consumers is our top priority, and we are committed to providing our customers with safe, high-quality products that are produced, sourced, and handled responsibly.

Since learning of the issue, we’ve been working with OSI to improve OSI’s safety and product quality measures to ensure the highest possible standards. OSI has eliminated the use of wood in the part of the production process which was determined to have been the source of this issue.  

Q: I still have questions / concerns.  How can I get more information?

A: If we haven’t answered your question or you’d like to share feedback, please contact us.

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