Food items made and sold locally may contain water beads

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – A local business is warning customers that a number of food items it sold could contain inedible water beads.

A food safety notice from Walt Churchill’s on Wednesday said some of the baked goods it sold in the last week likely contained water beads.

The federal agency that handles these matters said eating or drinking water beads poses a health risk, specifically for intestinal blockages because the beads expand in the water. They also contain a chemical that is a known carcinogen.

The baked goods that were decorated with what turned out to be water beads were sold on Sunday, Dec. 15 and Monday, Dec. 16. The message from the company said the affected items include the following:

Chocolate Chip Double Decker Slice cookies, decorated with red, green and white beads, at the Perrysburg location only.
Angel Food Cake, with the red, green and white beads mixed into the cake, at the Perrysburg location only.
Yeast-raised donuts with white icing, yeast-raised donuts with chocolate icing, vanilla cake donuts with white icing and chocolate cake donuts with chocolate icing, all decorated with red, green and white beads, at the Perrysburg and Maumee locations.

Churchill’s said its representatives are trying to directly contact any customer they’ve been able to determine bought any of these items. The business is also encouraging anyone who bought these items to destroy them or bringing them back into the stores. Affected customers will be given a refund.

The company also said they are unaware of anyone experiencing problems from ingesting the food. They encourage anyone who may have ingested them to contact their doctor or contact the Poison Help Line at 1-800-222-1222.

“We want to re-emphasize that we are very sorry this occurred,” the statement from the company read. “Food safety must be our top priority, and we will take all necessary steps to guard against anything like this happening again.”

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