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Pills in Fish Sticks Spark Recall

Pennsylvania family finds pills in their Gorton's fish sticks

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 11, 2008
Gorton's of Gloucester has recalled 1,000 cases of its Crispy Battered Fish Fillets in eleven states after a Pennsylvania family found pills inside a package they purchased. It ranks as one of the strangest recall cases in recent memory.

The company says the pills have been tested and they turned out to be herbal supplements, described as "harmless." No one else has reported finding pills inside their fish sticks package and the company calls it an isolated incident.

Now, the FBI has reportedly been called in to find out how the pills got in the box, and whether a crime was committed. The Associated Press quotes a spokeswoman from the Philadelphia Field Office as saying the Bureau is investigating and, at the moment, it's an open investigation.

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Gorton's of Gloucester is based in Massachusetts, but says nearly all the recalled product was distributed outside of New England. Besides Pennsylvania, the product was distributed in Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

The recalled product is marked with a UPC Code of No. 4440015770, date code of 7289G1 and best-if-used-by date of April 2009.

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