DETROIT -- A third Michigan family discovered a razor blade Friday in Ball Park hotdogs and a nail was found embedded in a fourth frank, prompting the manufacturer to pull the product off supermarket shelves in five states.
The Livonia, Mich.-based Hygrade Food Products Corp. announced the voluntary five-state recall after receiving a second report of a razor blade embedded in a hotdog from its suburban Detroit packing plant.
Earlier, company officials called the first incident a deliberate act of sabotage but declined to speculate whether the other incidents were related.
A company spokeswoman said it was not known exactly how many packages of Ball Park meat and beef franks were involvedain the recall because 'the number keeps growing as we speak.'
Mick McKinley, of Pittsfield, called police to report he had found a nail in a Ball Park hotdog. McKinley was not injured. A Hygrade spokesman said it appeared the nail was deliberately inserted during the manufacturing process.
McKinley reported the incident prior to the discovery Friday of a third razor in a Ball Park frank by a suburban Detroit woman.
Janet Melonio, Redford Township, told police she was watching the television news while preparing a dinner of Ball Park franks and decided to inspect them. She discovered a metal object imbedded in one hotdog - marking the third such incident this week.
'I removed the object and it appeared to be a blade from a disposable type razor,' said Redford Township police officer Paul Whiting. 'It appears it was inserted during the manufacturing process. There were no holes in the casing. I had to break the hotdog to pull the blade out.'
The hotdogs have been pulled from grocery shelves in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The Agriculture Department is monitoring the situation, officials said.
A Detroit woman discovered the first razor blade Tuesday night as she was preparing some hotdogs for her children's dinner. A Pittsfield Township man Thursday night bit into a hotdog containing the second razor blade. He was treated for lip lacerationsaat a local hospital and released.
Charles E. Ledgerwood, Hygrade's vice president of operations, blamed the first incident on 'deliberate sabotage by a misguided employee' at the Livonia plant. But he said it was possible the second incident may be unrelated.
Ledgerwood said all hotdog production at the Livonia plant would be halted while the investigation continues. The company offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.
'Consumers who have unused Hygrade frankfurters in their possession are cautioned to examine them closely before use to detect any suspicion of tampering,' he said. 'Consumers are invited to return such products to the store in which they were purchased for refund.'
Ledgerwood said the first razor blade was found in a package that was processed on Sept. 10 -- before the seven Chicago Tylenol-cyanide deaths -- and the second in a package processed about Oct. 11 with a Nov. 21 expiration date.
