A pair of TikToks capturing what appeared to be a dead mouse floating in a jar of peppers has raised concerns about a popular pantry item sold throughout the Houston area.
In the two videos posted Sept. 16, the apparent rodent corpse was nestled inside a 32-ounce jar of Mezzetta Golden Greek Pepperoncini. Mezzetta has since recalled a single lot of the pepperoncini, launched an investigation into the situation and contacted the consumer who posted the two videos, according to an announcement released Saturday.
Mezzetta has not said where it distributed the affected lot and did not immediately return a request for comment. The product is sold in store at local H-E-B, Walmart, Target and Randalls locations and online through Walmart, Target, Albertsons, Kroger and the Mezzetta website, according to the California-based food brand.
“We immediately took action to identify where the product was distributed and worked with affected customers to isolate and remove it from sale,” the announcement reads. “As our investigation continues, we’ll take other appropriate steps as needed.”
The two TikTok videos posted by @reizargt had racked up over 680,000 views as of Sunday afternoon. The user, who goes by Tiffany, shared the finding while making a Mississippi style pot roast.
“Public service announcement — don’t buy this brand of pepperoncinis,” they said. “I have a dead mouse in mine.”
Mezzetta acknowledged the social media video’s circulation and said it requested to “examine the product involved in the original consumer report” while investigating its own records. The company asked consumers not to eat the product and instead contact its customer support team for help at customersupport@mezzetta.com
“Food safety is our highest priority,” the company wrote in its announcement. “Our facilities follow established programs for sanitation, pest control, product quality and traceability designed to protect our products throughout production and distribution.”