The Name Brand That Had To Recall More Than 216,000 Pounds Of Sauce Off Store Shelves

In a battle of store-bought pasta sauces, we found that Ragù brand sauce handily bested Prego, thanks to the former's savory taste, pleasing texture, and variety of flavors. Ragù, which was developed from an Italian family recipe and kicked off commercial production in 1946, is a grocery store staple that can save home chefs lots of time in the kitchen. Despite its long history of success, the brand has run into some issues the along the way. This includes a recall that took place in 2019 over concerns about plastic fragments found in select jars of Ragù.

While many food recalls are initiated by customer complaints, a representative for Mizkan America (the parent company of Ragù as well as other brands like Bertolli and Nakano) told Consumer Reports awareness of the issue resulted from "[the company's] normal course of operations and quality checks." Three sauce varieties were affected by the recall, including Old World Style Meat, Old World Style Traditional, and Chunky Tomato Garlic & Onion. Overall, 216,202 pounds of sauce (for a total of 9,130 cases) were involved in the recall. Thankfully, the incident was contained, as all affected products were manufactured between June 4 and June 8, 2019. No injuries were reported.

As illustrated by the 15 most deadly recalled foods in U.S. history, bacteria like Listeria (responsible for the Boar's Head recall of 2024) and Salmonella (impacting multiple cantaloupe brands in 2023) are often a factor when it comes to consumer risks. However, the presence of foreign objects like glass, metal, or in the case of the 2019 Ragù recall, plastic, can also be highly problematic. Mizkan America never explained how the foreign object contamination happened, and it's not clear whether the company has ever specified the source. It is worth noting that the National Institutes of Health cites plastic contamination as a common cause of food recalls, as the material is estimated to be a factor in one of ten recalls occurring since 2003. 

As for the dangers of plastic in food, larger fragments can pose a choking risk or potentially cause internal injuries. While significantly less serious, plastic pieces can also cause dental issues and injuries if a person bites down on them. Plastic contamination doesn't typically rise to the level of a Class I FDA recall, the most serious classification and most likely to cause substantial health effects, but that doesn't mean these issues shouldn't be taken seriously. Fortunately for Ragù and its parent company, the 2019 recall was relatively minor.