On June 25, 2010, Kellogg issued a voluntary recall of various cereals. Sometimes you have to make more of an issue than what it already is. So I contacted them to let them know what I make of it…

Dear Chief of Cereal Recalls:

I read about your recent recall of Kellogg’s Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks due to an off-flavor and smell coming from the bag. How did you discover there was an off-flavor involved? If the package liner smelled, why would anyone who bought the cereal have gone ahead and eaten it? My philosophy is that if something smells bad, there’s a good chance it’s going to taste bad with the exception of certain cheeses. Would you agree to let the smell be your guide when it comes to breakfast cereals?

Unfortunately, problems do occur with products. Responsible companies like Kellogg act quickly to straighten things out. That said, how did the off-flavored cereal and bad smell get past your quality control inspectors and into stores? It’s not like just one box of cereal slipped through. The recall involved four different cereals. Isn’t someone from your quality control team tasting and sniffing all day?

Furthermore, if the bag is responsible for the off-flavor and smell, how come no one noticed when they opened the box of bags? Wouldn’t someone have had to physically pick up the package liners and put them on the assembly line? Why didn’t they notice then that something smelled fishy, or whatever it did smell like? Did you check to see if there were an abnormal number of employees that day suffering from allergies, sinusitis or an inflamed deviated septum that affected their sense of smell and/or taste?

Thank you for alerting the public to this incident and handling it professionally. Now I look forward to seeing how you handle my questions.

A Consumer Affairs Department Representative responded with:

Thank you for contacting us about our recently announced recall of some packages of Kellogg’s® Corn Pops®, Kellogg’s® Apple Jacks®, Kellogg’s® Froot Loops®, and Kellogg’s® Honey Smacks® cereal. Please visit http://consumeralert.kelloggs.com/consumeralert.aspx?id=3870 to link to a complete list of the product UPCs and Better if Used Before Dates included in the recall. Packages not on this list are not included in the recall. Consumers should not eat the recalled products because they do not meet quality standards.

We value your loyalty to our products and have enclosed a coupon you can use to get another Kellogg favorite.

These packages are being recalled because we identified a substance in the package liner that can produce an uncharacteristic waxy-like off-taste and smell. The off-tastes and smells are caused by a slightly elevated level of a substance commonly present at very low levels in the waxy resins used to make packaging materials that are approved by the FDA. These resins are also commonly used to coat foods such as cheese, raw fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers. We did not find any substances that are not commonly used in packaging materials.

We are working with our supplier of the liner to ensure that this problem does not happen again. We sincerely apologize to our loyal consumers for this situation.

If you have further questions please call (phone number followed) and any of our representatives will be happy to help you by referencing the file number found below.

Final Thoughts: When I end up eating something that smells or tastes off I usually cooked it myself. So I can see how encountering a waxy-like off-taste and smell with something simple like cereal can be surreal.

Unfortunately, compliments don’t go to the chefs at Kellogg this time. But they should go to Kellogg Company and their Consumer Affairs Department for taking responsibility and immediate action — not only when this went public, but also for answering my letter so promptly. Enclosed with the reply were two-plus pages of recall information FAQs as well as a coupon for One FREE Kellogg’s Product. I’ll be sure to use it, although breakfast is taking much longer now as I find myself sniffing every spoonful first.

I do wish Kellogg provided answers to the how and why questions rather than just a corporate form letter explanation of what. Most importantly, why did this happen? How come Quality Control in charge of four cereals didn’t smell something was off? Doesn’t anyone at Kellogg eat their own cereal for breakfast? Surely they should have been the first to know well before lunch time on the day it occurred, let alone all the time it took for the product to reach supermarket shelves. In any case, the substance found in the packaging liners has been identified as the not-so-yummy-sounding hydrocarbon methylnaphthalene. Read this article to learn more about that and food safety.

As I recall, most recalls eventually pass and companies as well as consumers move on and rarely recall anything until the next recall. So if you still have an appetite for breakfast, consider Kellogg’s cereals. However, if something ever smells the least bit funny about a product you use, or a manufacturer is in the news with something you find hard to swallow, one way to get more information is to Write The Company.