Recalls and Alerts: July 30, 2011

Here is today’s list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals, allergy alerts and miscellaneous compliance issues. The live links will take you directly to the official recall notices and company news releases that contain detailed information for each recall and alert.

United States

• Allergy Alert: Curly’s Custom Meats (Jackson Center, OH) recalls Curly’s Meats Beef Jerky Hickory Smoked-Teriyaki Flavor (4, 8 and 16-oz pkgs; Code 11077 or 1182; Produced March 17, 2011 and June 30, 2011) due to the presence of undeclared wheat from a spice blend. The recalled jerky products were sold directly over the internet or at the company’s adjacent retail store.
• Allergy Alert: Shata Trading Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) recalls Three Rivers Brand Golden Raisins (uncoded 400g clear plastic bag), due to the presence of undeclared sulphites. The recalled raisins were distributed in New York State.
• Food Safety Recall Update: USDA releases retail distribution list for ready-to-eat chicken products recalled by Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
• Food Safety Recall: SHSCO Manufacturing LLC (Phoenix, AZ) recalls an undetermined amount of meat products sold to consumers under the Stanley’s Home Made Sausage Company, Banat, Stanley’s Home Made Polish Sausage Company, and Stanley’s Jerky Company, and several products prepared especially for institutional use, because the products were manufactured without federal inspection. The recalled meats are labelled with Est. 34532 or Est. 44139 and were distributed to retailers and institutional users in Arizona and Nevada.
• Food Safety Recall: H-E-B recalls H-E-B Brand cottage cheese, dips, yogurt, and sour cream (8-oz, 16-oz, 24-oz and 32-oz sizes; sold between June 18 and July 27), due to the possible presence of foreign material. The recalled dairy products were sold at H-E-B, Central Market, Mi Tienda, and Joe V’s stores.
• Pet Food Safety Recall: Nestle Purina PetCare Company recalls Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ Dry Cat Food (3.5 lb & 7 lb. bags; Best by May 2012; Production codes 03341084 and 03351084), because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled cat food was distributed to customers – including Walmart and Kroger – located in California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, who may have further distributed the product to other states.
• Dietary Supplement Safety Recall: Finemost Corporation dba Qualiherb (Cerritos, CA) recalls certain Qualiherb dietary supplements after FDA’s lab analysis detects the presence of ephedrine alkaloids. Please see the recall notice for details of the recalled products.
• Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Product Alert: FDA warns US consumers not to use the emergency birth control medicine labeled EVITAL, as these product may be counterfeit versions of the “morning after pill” and may not be safe or effective in preventing pregnancy. The package label of the suspect counterfeit product reads, “Evital Anticonceptivo de emergencia, 1.5 mg, 1 tablet”, by Fluter Domull.
• Outbreak Alert: The Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Agriculture and the Allegheny County Health Department are reporting that five individuals – including three children – have developed diarrhea and other symptoms due to infection with Yersinia enterocolitica after consuming glass-bottled pasteurized milk from Brunton Dairy in Aliquippa, Beaver County. The Secretary of Health is advising consumers to discard any glass-bottled milk from the dairy. Brunton Dairy is certified by Pennsylvania to pasteurize milk at the farm. It is cooperating with the investigation and has stopped producing milk using its on-site pasteurization facility.
• Outbreak Alert: USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) alerts the public to an outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections that may be associated with the use and consumption of ground turkey meat. Seventy-seven outbreak-related illnesses have been reported to CDC from 26 states.
• Outbreak Alert Update: Alaska’s Campylobacter jejuni outbreak associated with the consumption of raw milk from a farm in Mat-Su Valley has expanded to seven lab-confirmed cases. An additional 11 people reported suffering acute gastrointestinal illness after consumption of raw milk from the same dairy farm, but were not lab-confirmed. The outbreak strain of C. jejuni was recovered from manure samples from the dairy’s grazing field and calf barn. Seven other strains of C. jejuni also were found in various environmental samples from the farm. Campylobacter was not found in the farms bulk milk samples, collected on June 22 and 27th, but the samples were positive for Listeria monocytogenes. Both the outbreak and the investigation are ongoing.

Canada

• Food Safety Recall Expanded: Primeridge Pure (Markdale, ON) expands its earlier recall of Primeridge Pure brand Pure Cheese Curds to include an additional lot code (random weight packages; Packed on 15.07.11), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The cheese was sold at Owen Sound Farmers’ Market, Collingwood Farmers’ Market and at the company’s own location on July 16, 2011.
• Food Safety Recall: R. Fiedler Meat Products Ltd. recalls Fiedler’s Beef Pastrami (Batch code 15221B; Best before 2011/AI/08) and Fiedler’s Cajun Chicken Breast Roast (Batch code 14511C; Best before 2011/SE/01) because the products contain an unspecified chemical additive. The recalled products were sold to retail consumers in Ontario.
• Food Recall: Bick’s Pickles recalls Bick’s Pickled Cubed Beets (2L; BB 2012 DE 07) due to microbiological spoilage. The product was sold nationally by retailers.
• Outbreak Alert: Over the last four months, Saskatchewan has recorded 13 cases of Shigella, mostly in children, and only one that is linked to overseas travel. Many of the cases of Shigella are due to a similar strain, suggesting an ongoing person-to-person and household-to-household spread. Most years, Saskatchewan records a total of 10 and 13 cases, mostly due to foreign travel.

Europe

• Consumer Product Safety Recall (Denmark): GUMLO INT. Ltd. recalls Gumlo baby bottles (125 ml and 250 ml; Made in Thailand; Sold after 1 July 2010), because there is evidence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in the polycarbonate baby bottles.
• Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Gert Nielsen A/S recalls several meat products (Batch No. 17078 and 16721; Produced 22/07/2011 and 24/07/2011), after Salmonella is found in raw material used to prepare the products. The recalled items were sold to catering companies.
• Food Safety Recall (Denmark): COOP Denmark A/S recalls Coop Hazelnuts (Best before 22.11.2011 and 21.03.2011) due to mold contamination.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Medical Device Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Coloplast (Hong Kong) Ltd. recalls Alterna R Sterile Post-Operative Ostomy Bags (Models 12808, 12810 and 12818, all with expiry date on 1 January 2013 or later) after one lot of the product fails a routine product sterility test.

Australia and New Zealand

• Outbreak Alert (New Zealand): Ward 15 at Whangarei Hospital has been closed to new admissions and four patients isolated after an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis suspected to be due to Norovirus. Two staff members also are ill.

Some supermarket chains post recall notices on their web sites for the convenience of customers. To see whether a recalled food was carried by your favorite supermarket, follow the live link to the supermarket’s recall web site.