PepsiCo-Produced Starbucks Beverage Recalled Due to Possible Contamination

A Pepsi truck delivers products to vendors at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Ill., on Aug. 18, 2016. Seth Perlman/AP Photo

A popular coffee beverage under the Starbucks label has been recalled by PepsiCo about concerns over possible contamination by metal fragments in the cans.

The soft drink company announced a voluntary recall of its Starbucks Vanilla Espresso Triple Shot drink over the issue, which may have contaminated as many as 221 cases of the beverage.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initiated the recall on Aug. 15, but did not make it public until Sept. 8 on its website.

The FDA’s enforcement notice has a warning telling consumers to dispose of the tainted drinks due to the fragments.

PepsiCo told Fox Business that the contaminated coffee beverages were not sold at Starbucks stores, but were distributed in 15-ounce cans at retailer stores in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The 15-ounce cans were sold at 12 cans per case, with packages marked with a best-buy date of Mar. 20, 2023.

So far, there are no reported adverse reactions or injuries related to the beverage product, according to Fox Business.

It is still unknown what caused the contamination of the coffee drink container, which are produced by Pepsi under the Starbucks brand name and not the coffee chain itself.

The Starbucks drink features “a kick of caffeine from Starbucks coffee with a hint of French vanilla flavor and a touch of cream,” according to the PepsiCo website, which is meant to be served chilled or over ice.

The company continued in a statement, “Delivering a quality experience to our consumers is our top priority, and we always act with an abundance of caution whenever a potential concern is raised.”

Recent Contamination Recalls

There have been similar recalls in recent months of food products containing possible metal fragments in the packaging.

Skippy Foods, which is owned by Hormel Foods, for example, recalled thousands of cases of peanut butter from grocery stores back in April due to possible pieces of metal.

Hormel recalled a total of 9,353 cases of its peanut butter products with use-by dates of May 2023.

Home Run Inn Frozen Foods also recalled more than 13,000 pounds of frozen pizza in August after several consumers found metal in the product.

Retailers such as Walmart and Target sold the pizzas across 35 U.S. states, according to the company’s website.

Meanwhile, PepsiCo has been increasing prices for its beverages and snacks due to rising material costs amid decades-high inflation.

Starbucks is also bringing back its popular pumpkin spice latte, but the cost has gone up for the same reasons regarding higher prices.

The coffee drink is one of its most popular of the fall and has been seasonally available at Starbucks stores worldwide since 2003.