The FDA has announced a voluntary recall of acetaminophen caplets by Perrigo Company. Pills being screened through a metal detector showed that some had metal fragments embedded in them. The discovery was made by the company during quality control procedures and was caused, apparently, by the premature wearing out of a machine used in the manufacture of the caplets.

The FDA states that it is not expected that serious injury or complications will arise from the consumption of the pills, but someone swallowing an affected caplet might experience stomach discomfort and minor cuts and scrapes to the mouth or throat.

Perrigo Company makes the 500mg acetaminophen caplets that are packaged and sold as store brands by many major chains, among them Wal-Mart and CVS. A full list of the stores to which the product is distributed is available at this FDA web page. Batch numbers of the approximately 11 million bottles affected by the recall can be found here.

The recall only affects the 500mg dose. If you think you may have some of the contaminated pills, discontinue use immediately. Lower dosage acetaminophen pills are not affected and are safe to consume.