Thousands of concerned parents have headed to the Facebook page of popular baby food brand Rafferty's Garden looking for answers following the recall of its Happy Tummies Vegetable Risotto.
The company this week issued an alert that the Arborio risotto rice it used in two batches with best before dates of August 10, 2018 and August 12, 2018 may contain glass.
“At Rafferty's Garden, we take food safety and the safety of our little consumers very seriously. We have been advised that there was an issue at the Arborio rice manufacturers where glass has entered the production process and was not detected,” the company said in a statement.
“Although we are confident of our rigorous quality screen mechanisms in place, we have initiated a recall of the affected batches as a precautionary measure.”
That did not stop thousands of customers heading to the company's Facebook page, many to ask what to do if their child had already consumed the product.
The company replied saying: “We would like to sincerely apologise if this recall has caused you and your family any concerns. Our team has been working around the clock on this as the safety and wellbeing of our little customers are our number 1 priority.
“We understand your concerns that your baby has consumed the pouches from these particular batches. We would like to reassure you that it is unlikely that any glass has made it into these particular pouches.
“To give you more information, we initiated this recall as soon as we received information from our Arborio rice supplier that glass was found on the manufacturing site. We did not initiate this recall because of any known cases of injury.
“Although we are confident of our rigorous quality screening mechanisms, we have initiated this recall of the pouches in question as a precautionary measure.
“We do advise that if your child may be exhibiting any symptoms or discomfort to get in touch with a health professional."
The company also gave details of a customer service hotline.
Rafferty's Garden was founded in 2008 by Adrian Pike, who sold the company in 2010 to Australian private equity company Anacacia Capital.
In 2013, after a proposed purchase of the company by competing baby food maker Heinz - which was rejected by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - Rafferty's Garden was sold to PZ Cussons for around $70 million.
