Month: March 2012

Recalls and Alerts: March 3, 2012

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.

If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the sidebar link.

United States

  • Allergy Alert: Jelly Belly Candy Co. (Fairfield, CA) recalls Peter Rabbit Deluxe Easter Mix “Gluten Free” candies (2.7 oz bags; UPC 071567992794; Lot codes 111111, 111215, and 120120; Best before January 11, 2013, February 15, 2013 and March 20, 2013 respectively), because gluten is present in the collection of candies. The recalled products were distributed nationwide, including in California.
  • Animal Feed Safety Recall: Western Feed, LLC recalls Payback Kountry Buffet 14% Feed (50-lb bags; Lot #M718430 and M720280; Distributed December 2, 2011 through December 15, 2011), because the feed may contain monensin sodium (Rumensin) at a level that is potentially harmful to horses. Monensin sodium is approved for use in some livestock and poultry species, but can be fatal to horses if fed a sufficiently high levels. The recalled feed was distributed to retailers in Nebraska and Wyoming. The company has received a report of some horses that died as a result of consuming the feed.
  • Food Safety Recall: Pasou Foods (Syracuse, IN) recalls Pizza Stix frozen, fully cooked, ready-to-eat pizza stick products (boxes of 100 sticks; Produced Feb 2nd and Feb 29th, 2012), because a meat ingredient used in the pizza sticks may have been produced without the benefit of federal inspection. The recalled pizza stick products were sold to a food distributor for further distribution to a caterer and other institutions in Indiana.
  • Food Recall/Withdrawal: Food City advises its customers about the recall of several varieties of Food Club Tomato Juice, Food Club Vegetable Juice, and Full Circle Organic Vegetable Juice, sold in 46 oz and 64 oz plastic bottles.
  • Food Recall: Lowes Foods recalls Lowes Foods Tomato Juice (46-oz; UPC 74164303058) and Full Circle Vegetable Juice (46-oz; UPC 3680014611), because the product does not meet quality standards.
  • Outbreak Alert (Hawaii): The Hawaii Department of Health reports a flare-up of norovirus outbreaks on Maui. Victims include residents of small elderly care homes, as well as preschool and early elementary school-aged children. The number of cases and outbreaks is roughly double the numbers seen last year.
  • Outbreak Alert (Ohio): The Columbus Public Health Department is investigating more than 300 cases of norovirus reported in central Ohio, according to a report on 10TV.
  • Outbreak Alert (New York): Onondaga County’s health department is investigating what is suspected to be a norovirus outbreak among 15-20 people who patronized the Twin Trees Too restaurant (1029 Milton Ave., Syracuse) last weekend. None of the victims were hospitalized.
  • Pet Treat Recall Debunked: On February 27, 2012, The Daily Puppy carried a recall notice for Jerky Treats Beef Flavor Dog Snacks, sold at Costco in the USA and Canada, purported to have been updated by FDA on 1/12/2012. According to Laura Alvey, a spokeswoman for FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA has no information on this recall. The treats are manufactured by Del Monte Pet Products, which responded to eFoodAlert’s inquiry with the following statement: “There is no recall for any Del Monte products.“

Canada

  • Outbreak Alert (British Columbia): The Vancouver Island Health Authority alerts the public to active outbreaks of suspected or confirmed norovirus illnesses at five healthcare facilities in Victoria and Saanichton. Affected facilities include Beacon Hill Villa, Mount Edwards Court, Sunrise of Victoria and Saanich Peninsula Hospital (Acute Care unit and Extended Care Unit 2 unit). The Extended Care Unit at Saanich Peninsula Hospital has been closed for admissions.
  • Outbreak Alerts (Ontario): Toronto Public Health reports increased Salmonella activity in Toronto this year, with 114 cases report since the beginning of 2012. Included in the case count are: a large catered event on February 11th that resulted in a cluster of Salmonella typhimurium illnesses among attendees; an outbreak of Salmonella heidelberg across the Greater Toronto Area that is under investigation by Public Health Ontario; and an increase in Salmonella enteritidis associated with recent travel to Cuba.

Europe

  • Food Safety Alert (Denmark): Denmark’s Food Administration warns that it has received a report that several Polish retailers have been selling salt not intended for human consumption. The Food & Drug Administration is monitoring the situation closely.
  • Outbreak Alert (Russia): Authorities are investigating an outbreak of acute intestinal infection among 19 students (aged 10 to 14 years) of the Choreographic College in the Krasnoyarsk region.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Outbreak Alert (Pakistan): Eight staff nurses and 47 student nurses have been hospitalized with acute food poisoning at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (Rawalpindi) after eating food at the nursing hostel.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Outbreak Alert (Mexico): At least 45 cases of acute diarrhea were reported in the community of Providence, Naples (Guanajuato). The outbreak is thought to be due to contamination of drinking water with sewage.

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.

*The Kroger umbrella encompasses numerous supermarket, marketplace and convenience store chains, listed on the Kroger corporate home page.
**Includes Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs and Pak N’ Save.

Recalls and Alerts: March 2, 2012

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.

If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the sidebar link.

United States

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: Glatt’s Kosher Meat Products (Montreal, QC) recalls Glatt’s Beef Frankfurters Jumbo BBQ (375g packages; UPC 0 55627 00203 6; Best Before date of 12AL21), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled Beef Frankfurters were distributed in Quebec and Ontario.
  • Food Safety Recall: Charcuterie La Tour Eiffel Inc. recalls La Belle Bretagne brand Our Cooked Ham – Original (Variable kg; Best before 12AL14 or 12AL21), La Belle Bretagne brand Sliced Cooked Ham (Variable kg; Best before 12AL01), La Belle Bretagne brand Our Cooked Ham – Original Sliced (175g; Best before 12MR30), Tour Eiffel Cooked Ham – Extra Lean (Variable kg; Lot 271), Tour Eiffel Parisian Cooked Ham (175g; Best before 12MR31), Tour Eiffel Shaved Parisian Cooked Ham (175g and 400g; Best before 12MR20 or 12MR21), and Tour Eiffel Chopped Cooked Ham (400g; Best before 12MR16), due to contamination with Clostridium perfringens. The recalled products were supplied to retailers, and to hotels, restaurants, and institutions in Quebec.

Europe

  • Food Safety Withdrawal (UK): B&M Sausages withdraws the following meat products in Scotland, due to inadequate disinfection of food contact surfaces between raw and ready-to-eat foods, resulting in potential cross-contamination with pathogenic bacteria: Wiejka Sausage, Szynka Poledwica, Boczek Rdowany, Zwyczajna, Firmova, Szynkowa, Kabanos, Schab Rolonkiny, Krakowska, Biala, Przysmak Swietokrzyski, Parowkova, Pasztetowa, Frankfurterki, Salceson, Zeberka Wedzone, Boczek, Kaszanka, Blgosowka, Rolada Pieczen, Karczek Pieczony, and Boczek Pieczony (produced up to and including 1 March 2012).
  • Dietary Supplement Safety Recall (Spain): AEMPS mandates the recall of L-5HTP (60 capsules; 1000mg/capsule), because the product contains the unauthorized active ingredient L-5 hydroxytriptophan
  • Outbreak Alert (UK): The Royal Lancaster Infirmary (Lancashire) has banned visitors from nine wards in an effort to contain an outbreak of norovirus at the hospital.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0319): Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in onion mettwurst sausage from Germany; distributed to Germany.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0320): Cadmium in frozen ribbonfish from India; distributed to Italy.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0321): Dicofol and oxamyl in green beans from Morocco, via Spain; distributed to Germany.
  • Allergy Alert Notification (EU #2012.0322): Undeclared milk ingredient in dark chocolate spread from Belgium; distributed to Andorra, France and Spain.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Allergy Alert (Australia): The Reject Shop Ltd. recalls Snack Stacks Potato Crisps Barbeque (160g cardboard tube; Product of China; All best before dates up to and including 20/02/2012), due to the presence of undeclared whey, a milk protein. The recalled product was sold in The Reject Shop retail stores across Australia.
  • Food Safety Recall (New Zealand): Vitaco Health (NZ) Limited recalls Healtheries Kidscare Rice Wheels-Cheese-Sour Cream & Chives-Burger (All pack sizes; All Best before dates up to and including 24/11/12) and Healtheries Wiggles Ricey Bites-Cheese-Tomato (All pack sizes; All Best before dates up to and including 24/11/12), due to possible contamination with glass particles. The recalled products were sold in Supermarkets and Health Stores across New Zealand.
  • Food Safety Recall (Australia): Vitaco Health Australia recalls Healtheries Kidscare Rice Wheels Roast Chicken (10 x 18g packets; Best before dates up to and including 4/01/13), Healtheries Kidscare Rice Wheels Burger (10 x 18g packets; Best before dates up to and including 4/01/13), Healtheries Kidscare Rice Wheels Cheese (10 x 18g packets; Best before dates up to and including 4/01/13) and Healtheries Wiggles Ricey Bites Cheese (8 x 15g packets; Best before dates up to and including 4/01/13), due to contamination with foreign matter (glass). The recalled products were imported from Indonesia and sold online and nationally at Coles, Woolworths, Safeway, The Reject Shop, IGA and other independent supermarkets.
  • Outbreak Alert (New Zealand): At least 19 cases of hepatitis A infections have been confirmed in Auckland, including a cluster of cases involving school-age children. The source of the outbreak is unknown.

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.

*The Kroger umbrella encompasses numerous supermarket, marketplace and convenience store chains, listed on the Kroger corporate home page.
**Includes Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs and Pak N’ Save.

Profiling E. coli O157:H7 and Other STECs

Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) can be found in meat and in a number of different fruits and vegetables, and may cause potentially deadly infections, especially in children and in the elderly. STEC also are referred to as verocytotoxic E. coli (VTEC) or enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC)

Some history

Many decades ago, a run-of-the-mill strain of E. coli acquired the ability to produce a toxin known as stx2 – probably courtesy of a bacteriophage that transported it from a random Shigella microbe. After undergoing mutations that changed its antigenic structure and its ability to ferment certain carbohydrates, our E. coli acquired the capacity to produce a second toxin – stx1 – and shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 was born.

E. coli O157:H7 was isolated for the first time in 1970, from an Irish piglet that had developed enteritis. Five years later, the microbe was found in the stool of a California woman who was suffering from bloody diarrhea. The first confirmed foodborne disease outbreaks caused by E. coli O157:H7 took place in 1982, among patrons of McDonalds – the first on in Oregon, the second in Michigan.

E. coli O157:H7 is just one of several shiga toxin-producing E. coli strains, known collectively as STEC. Other strains include O104:H4 (the cause of a massive sprout-related outbreak in Germany in 2011), as well as O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145.

What are shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STECs) and what is their natural habitat?

E. coli O157:H7 and other STECs are members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. They are motile, rod-shaped bacteria that are capable of growing either with or without oxygen. STECs are found in the large intestines of many animals, especially in ruminants such as cattle. They are introduced into the soil and surface water through contaminated feces or the use of raw manure as fertilizer.

How is STEC transmitted? What is the incubation period of the infection?

STEC food poisoning results when an individual eats food that is contaminated with the microbe. The infection also can be transmitted secondarily by contact with stool from an infected individual. It takes only 100-200 STEC microbes to cause an infection.The incubation period varies from one to eight days, depending on the dose, and on the susceptibility of the victim.

What are the symptoms of an infection with STEC? How long do they last?

Symptoms of STEC infections include severe – often bloody – diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. Unless complications arise, symptoms typically last for 5 to 10 days.

What is the prognosis?

STEC infections are self-limiting in most cases involving healthy adults. Young children and some elderly victims are at risk of developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe and sometimes fatal complication. HUS strikes approximately 5-10% of STEC-infected children under the age of 10 years, affecting the function of the kidneys, digestive system and other organs. HUS is fatal in 3 to 5% of cases; 12-30% of HUS victims continue to suffer long-term consequences of their illness, including hypertension or impaired kidney function.

What foods carry STEC?

E. coli O157:H7 and other STEC bacteria can be found most commonly in raw beef, unpasteurized dairy products, and raw produce.

How can people protect themselves from STEC?

People acquire STEC infections by person-to-person transmission; by ingesting contaminated food, milk or water; by coming into contact with infected animals (for example at petting zoos); or by swimming or playing in contaminated water.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer these suggestions for avoiding STEC infections:

  1. WASH YOUR HANDS thoroughly after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before preparing or eating food.
  2. WASH YOUR HANDS after contact with animals or their environments (at farms, petting zoos, fairs, even your own backyard).
  3. COOK meats thoroughly. Ground beef and meat that has been needle-tenderized should be cooked to a temperature of at least 160°F/70˚C. It’s best to use a thermometer, as color is not a very reliable indicator of “doneness.”
  4. AVOID raw milk, unpasteurized dairy products, and unpasteurized juices (like fresh apple cider).
  5. AVOID swallowing water when swimming or playing in lakes, ponds, streams, swimming pools, and backyard “kiddie” pools.
  6. PREVENT cross contamination in food preparation areas by thoroughly washing hands, counters, cutting boards, and utensils after they touch raw meat.

Additionally, always pay attention to recall notices, and return any recalled item to the store, or discard it in a sealed bag.

For more information on STECs and other food-borne pathogens, visit the CDC website or read Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectives.