The manufacturer said it was alerted to the issue by a "a small number of dissatisfied consumers" and has pulled 550 g packs of the cereal from shelves.
“We launched an immediate investigation," Weetabix told BakeryAndSnacks, adding it discovered a small piece of "soft, blue rubber" had broken off a single production line at one of its factories at Burton Latimer in Northamptonshire, England.
"As a precaution we have recalled four days’ production. No injuries have been reported and no other products are affected.”
The affected best-before dates/batch codes are:
- January 18 2017 / batch code 6018
- January 19 2017 / batch code 6019
- January 20 2017 / batch code 6020
- January 21 2017 / batch code 6021
'We take quality extremely seriously'
“Fulfilling the expectations of our consumers is of paramount importance to us here at Weetabix, and we take all issues regarding the quality of our food extremely seriously,” said the manufacturer.
“We apologize for the inconvenience and concern this may cause our consumers and customers.”
Consumers are being told to send Weetabix a photograph of the product Best Before date, are to post them the strip from the top of the packet.
The Weetabix incident comes a week after Mars recalled a variety of chocolate bars from across more than 50 countries after plastic was found in one of the products. The affected bars, which were produced in a chocolate factory in the Netherlands (Veghel), were pulled from sale over fears they might contain small pieces of plastic.