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Hormel Foods Tuesday voluntarily recalled 450 pounds of Dinty Moore canned beef stew because of possible contamination with pieces of a broken flashlight.

The 40 recalled cases of Dinty Moore were produced at a Hormel plant in Tucker, Ga., and shipped to Kroger locations in Texas and Louisiana.

Austin-based Hormel issued the recall after pieces of a flashlight were found near a production line during a routine inspection. "We don't know if [any pieces] got into the product or not, but we are doing [the recall] out of an abundance of caution," said Rick Williamson, a Hormel spokesman.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of recalled Dinty Moore products. Consumers who have purchased the products should throw them away or return them to the place of purchase, the USDA said.

The recall affects 15-ounce cans of "Dinty Moore Hearty Meals No Preservatives Beef Stew" with a "best by" date of February 2019 and a production date of T01266. The product also has "EST. 199G" printed inside the UDSA inspection mark.

MIKE HUGHLETT