6,051 Cases of Baby Food Recalled

The Beech Nut Nutrition Corp. is voluntarily recalling 6,051 cases of mixed-cereal baby food because the cereal may contain lead paint chips, company officials said.

The cereal--Beech Nut Stage 2 mixed cereal--is fed to infants between the ages of 6 months and 9 months. The federal Food and Drug Administration announced the recall Wednesday in Washington.

The contamination apparently occurred when discarded paint chips were accidentally dropped from a filler hopper at the company’s manufacturing plant in Canajoharie, N.Y., Beech Nut spokeswoman Jeanne Gumm said.

Plant officials immediately quarantined and destroyed the portion of food they thought was contaminated but subsequent consumer complaints about paint chips to the company led to the recall, the FDA said.

The eight-ounce boxes of the baby food are believed to have been distributed primarily on the East Coast, in Illinois, Indiana, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, the Virgin Islands and the Antilles, company officials said.

The boxes in question carry the codes 6912A, 6912C and 6912D on the paper sticker over the pour spout. The numbers on the case box are 13-mixed-6912A, 13-mixed-6912C, and 13-mixed-6912D.

Consumers were advised to return the products to the store where they bought them for refund or exchange.