FDA upgrades recall to a Class II status

We all scream for ice cream — especially if it contains metal contamination that could cause “adverse health consequences.”

According to the Food and Drug Administration, some ice cream sold in Texas may cause problems for just that reason.

Two ice cream products that had previously been recalled in April have now been reclassified by the FDA as a Class II risk, Newsweek reported Saturday.

The products, produced by H-E-B out of San Antonio, are the 3-ounce Creamy Creations Chocolate Ice Cream 12-pack and the 3-ounce Creamy Creations Ice Cream Lime/Orange Combo 12-pack.

Both products, along with a third — the 3-ounce H-E-B Creamy Creations Ice Cream Homemade/Chocolate Combo 12 pack — were originally recalled by the company on April 27.

Newsweek said it had reached out to the FDA for an explanation as to why not all the products involved in the original recall had been upgraded to the Class II level.

When the recall notice was first published, no classification was given for it.

A Class I recall indicates that “there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death,” the FDA explains on its website.

The least serious classification is Class III, which means the product recalled is unlikely to impact a consumer’s health.

Class II, in the middle, is used when “use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote,” the website says.

In the case of the H-E-B ice cream recall, the FDA has assigned a Class II designation because of  the “[p]otential presence of metal fragments” in the product, the announcement said.

However, no known injuries had been reported in relation to the metal fragments, it added.

The ice cream products recalled were sold in all H-E-B stories in Texas, as well as Central Market, Mi Tienda and Joe V’s Smart Shop stores throughout the state.

“All product related to this recall has been removed from store shelves,” the announcement read. “Customers who purchased the products should not consume the items and can return them to the store for a full refund.”

The company also said that it was working to get replacement product back on the shelves as quickly as it could.

The recalled products display UPC codes of 4122062948 and 4122081930, Newsweek reported, but the codes appear only on the bag containing the ice cream cups, and not on the cups themselves.

The company also published its customer service number, 855-432-4438, for any readers in need of additional information. That number is manned from 8-to-5 CST on weekdays, the company said.