The company behind the production of the Slim-Fast line of products, Unilever, has announced a voluntary recall of over 10 million of their canned, ready-to-drink Slim Fast meal replacement shakes. Internal quality assurance testing on the drinks found traces of Bacillus Cereus, an unpleasant but non-lethal toxin that can cause nausea and diarrhea in its victims. Bacillus Cereus is traditionally associated with fried rice in Asian and Mexican restaurants but the commonality of the disease is difficult to verify due to the fact that so few people actually report cases of food poisoning to a physician.

Company officials stressed that the recall was “strictly routine” and not prompted by consumer complaints. Food and Drug Administration officials, however, said that the inspections took place after several consumers complained to Unilever (the FDA itself has received complaints from “time to time” but none in recent history). The Center for Disease Control has received no complaints of illness associated with Slim-Fast products at this time. Unilever representatives did confirm the receipt of consumer complaints, but said that those complaints had not been definitively linked to Slim-Fast products.

Unilever spokeswoman Anita Larsen stresses that the recall affects only the canned Slim-Fast products. The recall does not affect the powdered Slim-Fast or the meal replacement bars (so if you have that 5 year old can of the powdered stuff in the back of your cupboard you’re still stuck with it. Sorry).  Canned Slim-Fast should be discarded immediately and consumers should call Unilever at 1-800-896-9479 for information on obtaining a refund.

[Via Dietblog]