Goldfish Crackers are being taken off of store shelves for the time being by maker Pepperidge Farms due to unknown Salmonella contamination.

In an official press release put out at the start of last week, the American commercial bakery founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin announced the recall. They had been notified by ingredient supplier Associated Milk Producers Inc. that some of the whey powder used in the crackers' seasoning might be contaminated with salmonella bacteria. The company is now taking precautions by calling out to consumers to return or throw out the said products for a full refund out of “an abundance of caution.”

A basic byproduct of dairy processing, whey is often used in the creation of yogurts, cheeses, and the coatings found on top of various processed foods, including crackers. As with any animal product, it can easily become contaminated with germs such as salmonella, especially within the “seasoning that’s applied,” as Bethridge Toovell, a spokeswoman for Pepperidge Farms told NBC News.

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From Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar and Flavor Blasted Sour Cream & Onion, to Goldfish Baked with Whole Grain Xtra Cheddar and Goldfish Mix Xtra Cheddar + Pretzel, four otherwise delightful and fan-favorite flavors have been affected. The once-very child-friendly snack that “smiles back at the center,” as NPR put it, has become a not-so-fun go-to munchie after all.

In addition to the recall, Pepperidge Farms has also released a detailed chart listing out a grand total of almost twenty variations in product sizes with varying sell-by dates outlining many of the potentially affected products that may have been put out onto store shelves.

Thankfully though, no official sicknesses or deaths have been reported as of yet according to the USDA Food Safety Twitter account, and that is probably because Salmonella has long proven to be quite a common germ, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted.

Source: Pepperidge Farm

More highly classified as “Enterobacteriaceae,” the group of bacteria is usually not too serious, with most infected people developing diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps anywhere from twelve to seventy-two hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four days to just about a full week, yet most people recover and get better without treatment, said the CDC.

It is still not clear as to whether or not a full investigation will move forward but it does look like we all will be taking a big break from nineties-style crunching for the time being because things have definitely gone south snack-wise.

Goldfish is just the latest in salmonella-related recalls with Kellogg's Honey Smacks cereal having been recalled because of a salmonella outbreak in June.

In the case of certain types of Ritz crackers, those too have been recalled recently over concerns that they may have been subject to some sort of Salmonella-tainted whey powder, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Things have definitely gotten way too fishy in the wonderful world of snacks. Gulp.

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