Food Lion recalls ground beef over ‘black rubber plastic’ contamination

Several ground beef products are being recalled over possible plastic contamination.

Food Lion is warning customers of its store in Midlothian, Virginia, that small pieces of a black rubber plastic gasket fell into four varieties of meat sold at the store — 73% Lean Fresh Ground Beef, 80% Lean Fresh Ground Chuck, 85% Lean Fresh Ground Round, and 93% Lean Fresh Ground Beef.

The plastic became dislodged and damaged during the grinding process when it was produced February 6, Food Lion said in its recall warning. The products have a Sell By Date of February 8, 2026. Customers are urged to check their freezers for packs of the affected meat.

Possible plastic contamination could cause illness or choking hazards. No one has reported any illness or injury because of the meat so far, and Food Lion did not immediately return The Independent’s request for further comment.

Customers who bought the product can return it to the store at 11130 Hull Street in Midlothian for a refund of double the amount for which it was purchased.

Food Lion, which was founded in North Carolina, has over a thousand stores throughout 10 states in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

It comes as multiple other recalls over plastic contamination are affecting customers across the country.

Thousands of jars of peanut butter and peanut butter and jelly combination snacks made by Ventura Foods LLC are being recalled after pieces of blue plastic were found in the food during the production process. More than 20,000 affected products were sold in 40 states.

The recall was upgraded to a Class II by the FDA last week due to the increased risk of health consequences.

In Idaho, federal health officials recently expanded a frozen tater tot recall at McCain Foods. About 648,000 pounds were recalled over possible contamination with hard plastic fragments.

The Food and Drug Administration acknowledged that the products were not sold in retail stores, but were primarily distributed to food service clients.

Millions of pounds of frozen chicken fried rice products sold at Trader Joe’s were also recently recalled due to potential glass contamination.

The contamination was discovered after four customers complained about finding glass pieces in their food, but no injuries were reported.

In the same recall, almost 3.4 million pounds of the Chicken Fried Rice was pulled from Ajinomoto Foods North America, which is based in Portland, Oregon. Plus, cardboard packages with six bags of Ajinomoto Yakitori Chicken with Japanese-Style Rice were recalled in Canada.