Skippy Peanut Butter Recalled Due to Metal Shaving Contamination

Hormel Foods announced a recall after the company discovered that a batch of Skippy peanut butter contaminated with metal shavings was mistakenly sent out for distribution. About 1,871 pounds of peanut butter were affected by the voluntary recall.

The discovery of the error happened during a routine cleaning and inspection of the company's Little Rock, Arkansas facility, The New York Times reported.

"The recall covers 153 cases of Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread," the publication said. "The products were sent to distribution centers that serve Publix, Target and Walmart stores in Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Delaware and Arkansas."

A spokesman for the company, Rick Williamson, stated that they had detected the metal shavings in a batch during the inspection and had set the contaminated batch aside.

"Unfortunately, a pallet of product that was to be destroyed was inadvertently released," he said.

The company then decided to take a proactive measure and announced the recall as some of the jars may have bits of the metal shavings. However, no injuries or complaints have been reported by customers yet.

"Customers who did buy the recalled peanut butter-16.3 ounce jars with a 'Best If Used By' date of DEC1416LR1 with a package UPC code of 37600-10500-are eligible to return it to the store where it was purchased for an exchange," Time said.

"Foodborne objects that are greater than 7 mm (1/4 inch) in length may cause injury such as severe choking with airway obstruction, gastrointestinal perforation or secondary infection," Fox News explained, adding that Hormel Foods' shares were only little affected by the said recall.

This is not the first time that a recall involving peanut butter happened. Just last year, "six brands of peanut butter and almond butter have been recalled for possible Salmonella contamination," Food Safety News said.

A voluntary recall was also announced, but not after the company affected by the contamination received reports of four people who got ill in connection with the consumption of the affected products. The said move had since been hailed as "The Great Nut Butter Recall of 2014" by The Huffington Post.

A notable rash of food poisoning involving peanut butter famously happened in 2008 and 2009, resulting in the imprisonment of Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell. He was "convicted of knowingly shipping bad peanut butter to customers" five years after the incident. Hundreds of Americans who consumed the contaminated problem had fallen ill, affecting no less than 714 in 43 states, The Huffington Post said in a previous piece.

WATCH: