Dinner was supposed to be Mississippi pot roast. Instead, it turned into a horror movie in a kitchen.
A woman filming for TikTok said she reached for a jar of Mezzetta Golden Greek Peperoncini, flipped the camera toward the brine, and spotted what she called a “dead baby mouse” floating at the bottom. The clip, posted under the handle reizargt, raced across social media and was enough to push California pickle giant G.L. Mezzetta Inc. into a voluntary recall.
“There’s a dead baby mouse in my peperoncinis,” she said, holding up the 32-ounce jar with the red lid still on. On-screen text later joked that she had already licked her fingers and to “stay tuned to see if I d13.”Mezzetta says it saw the video, contacted the customer, and moved fast. In an FDA notice dated Sept. 26, the company said the recall covers only one product and one lot: Mezzetta Golden Greek Peperoncini Medium Heat, 32 ounces, SKU 10106328, lot 720106. No other Mezzetta jars are included, and the firm says it has received no reports of illness or injury.
“We’re aware of a video circulating on social media showing a potential pest contaminant,” the company wrote. “We have contacted the consumer and have moved quickly to investigate the situation and initiate a voluntary recall.”
Mezzetta says it has distribution records showing which stores got that lot and is working with those customers to pull the jars. It also asked to examine the original jar and is reviewing production and sanitation records.
Online, not everyone is buying the story. Commenters noted the jar already looked opened and half-empty, and at least one viewer compared it to the old “mouse in a beer bottle” scam from “Strange Brew.” The company still treated the complaint as a food-safety issue. Rodents in packaged food can carry bacteria, which is why regulators treat even a single claim as adulteration.
If you’ve got a 32-ounce jar of the Golden Greek medium-heat peppers, check the lot code. Lot 720106 should not be eaten. Mezzetta is asking those customers to email CustomerSupport@Mezzetta.com.
The rest of the pantry can breathe, for now. The company insists this is a limited pull, not a brand-wide dump. Still, after that video, a lot of people will be peering extra hard at the bottom of the next jar before they dump peppers on a sandwich.
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