The Starbucks Mug Recall Customers Need To Know About

Starbucks has had its fair share of scandals and controversies since it opened in 1971. Its latest issue stems from a product recall of around 440,500 holiday gift sets, which were sold online and in multiple retail outlets from November 2023 to January 2024. The sets contain pouches of Starbucks hot cocoa and coffee blends, depending on which one you bought, but the problem is with the ceramic mugs that came with each variation.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's recall notice, the mugs may "overheat or break, posing burn or laceration hazards" if microwaved or filled with extremely hot liquid. The mugs were sold in two sizes, 11 ounces and 16 ounces, and both have been recalled. Nestlé USA, which manufactured the mugs, notes in its own recall statement that it was made aware of the issue thanks to customer feedback. It also states that "12 incidents of the mugs overheating or breaking" had occurred as of March 21, 2024, "resulting in 10 injuries."

Consumers are encouraged by both Nestlé and the CPSC to return the items immediately and get a refund. To do this, you can take the item back to the point of purchase or contact Nestlé USA directly.

This isn't the first time Nestlé has had to pull a product from shelves due to safety concerns. The company has been at the center of some of the scariest recall controversies in recent memory. In 2021, The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a recall for Hot Pockets due to the fact that they may have been "contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically pieces of glass and hard plastic" (via USA Today). The same issue was found with some of Nestlé's frozen products in 2016 when retail giant Kroger informed customers that several frozen items had been recalled. As with the Hot Pockets recall, the products potentially contained glass.

Nestlé's cookie dough has also seen two separate recalls. The first occurred in 2019 because of the risk of food-grade rubber being found, with the second happening in 2023 due to the potential presence of wood fragments.