Undeclared lobster made a pear and pecorino ravioli a Class I recall in two states

Pear and Pecorino Triangoli Ravioli, a frozen one-pound pasta from Deano’s Pasta of Somerville, Massachusetts, may contain lobster that its label never mentions, and the FDA has placed the resulting recall in its most serious tier. The agency’s enforcement report of October 21 lists the distribution as two states, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The day in tech, in one email: TLDR is the daily newsletter with links and TLDRs of the most interesting stories in startups, tech and programming.

Get TLDR →

We may earn a commission if you sign up.

Lobster is a crustacean shellfish. For anyone with a shellfish allergy, an unlabelled trace in a cheese-and-fruit filling removes the one defense available, which is reading the ingredient panel.

The label that missed an ingredient

According to Deano’s Pasta’s own allergy alert, posted on the FDA’s recall site on September 24, 2026, a customer complaint triggered an internal audit that found lobster-containing product packed in packaging that did not disclose the allergen. The company attributed the failure to “a temporary breakdown in the company’s production and packaging processes.” People with a lobster or crustacean shellfish allergy or severe sensitivity risk a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they eat the pasta, the notice says, and no illnesses had been reported when it was issued.

The timeline runs short. The affected product was distributed from August 10 to September 22, 2026, a window of 43 days; the company opened its recall on September 23, the FDA posted the notice the next day, and the agency classified the recall on October 15, 22 days after it began. The lot code sits on the label under the best-by date, and the four lots the FDA lists are the identifiers a store or household would match against it.

The product is sold in one-pound frozen bags. The enforcement record lists the declared allergens as wheat, milk and egg, with a note that other allergens may be present.

Massachusetts alone, or Massachusetts and New Hampshire

The FDA enforcement entry carries recall number H-0092-2027 and event ID 99966. It records a voluntary, firm-initiated recall that started September 23, 2026, a classification date of October 15, and a status of “Ongoing.” The reason for recall is two words, “Undeclared Lobster,” and the lot codes it lists are 090126126, 082526126, 081826126 and 073126126, for 78 pounds of product.

The company’s announcement is narrower on geography and volume. It describes retail distribution in Massachusetts from August 10 to September 22, 2026, and says about 20 pounds were recalled. The enforcement record adds New Hampshire, which makes the second state on the federal record. It also differs by one digit on a lot code (082525126 in the announcement, 082526126 in the record). The enforcement entry is the FDA’s own classification record, though openFDA cautions that its data are unvalidated and should not be used for safety decisions without verification. The numbers here are quoted as each document gives them rather than reconciled. Counted in one-pound bags, the quantities work out to roughly 20 bags in the company’s notice and 78 in the FDA’s record, a modest volume in absolute terms and a fourfold difference in relative ones, and the notice itself offers no reason for the gap.

What the top tier means, in the agency’s words

The FDA reserves that tier for a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death. Class II is a lower level, where harm may be temporary or medically reversible or the probability of serious harm is remote, and Class III covers products unlikely to cause adverse health consequences.

Deano’s Pasta sits in the top category in the same weekly report in which an ice cream with possible metal fragments was assigned Class II. The difference reflects the agency’s reading of the hazard: for people with the allergy, an undeclared allergen can produce the serious or life-threatening reaction the company’s notice describes. The company’s instructions are to avoid eating the product and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund, and it takes calls at (617) 623-0013, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.

The company’s notice does not say how lobster came to be in a pear-and-pecorino line, beyond the temporary breakdown in production and packaging processes it names. The audit that followed the customer complaint found lobster-containing product in packaging that omitted the allergen, which points to a labelling and packing failure and does not describe a recipe change. The record is silent on whether the filling itself was contaminated or only the wrapper was wrong.

The open point is the footprint itself. The company’s notice names one state and 20 pounds; the FDA’s record names two states and 78 pounds, and no further document in the record explains the gap. For a household or retailer holding a bag from the Massachusetts or New Hampshire shelves, the practical test in both documents is the same: the lot code printed under the best-by date, matched against 090126126, 082526126, 081826126 or 073126126. The alert sits with the rest of the week’s notices on the FDA’s recalls and safety alerts index, where the agency and the firms publish the underlying press releases. The classification itself reaches the public through the agency’s weekly enforcement report, which sorts every monitored recall into one of three tiers or leaves it unclassified until the review finishes.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

The day in tech, in one email: Get TLDR →

We may earn a commission if you sign up.