Month: July 2012

Recalls and Alerts: July 31, 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

  • Food Safety Recall: Ken’s Foods, Inc. recalls Ken’s Tartar Sauce (4/1-gal containers; MFG 09/JUL/12), Ken’s Tartar Sauce (100/1.5oz cups; EXP 011313), Dickey’s BBQ Bean (10/48oz pouches; USE BY 11MAR13), Golden Corral Tartar (4/1-gal containers; MFT 17/JUL/12), Lee’s Cole Slaw (14/40oz pouches; MFT 23JUL12) and Fatz Tartar Sauce (4/1-gal containers; MFT 23/JUL/12), because these items contain onions from Gills Onions, which may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled products were supplied to distribution centers, private label customers and brokers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
  • Food Safety Recall: Garden-Fresh Foods recalls various ready-to-eat salads, slaw, salsa, bean and dip products sold under various brands and code dates, because the products may contain onions from Gills Onions, which may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled products were sold in various size containers (8oz to 8 pound packages) and were distributed to retail stores and food services in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and California. Affected brands include Acme, Chef’s Kitchen, Copperwood Kitchens, Dairy Fresh, Finest Traditions, GArden-Fresh, Grandpas, Marsh’s, Archer Farms, Market Pantry, Our Own, Rogges, Roundy’s, Spartan, Spoon River and Weis.
  • Food Safety Recall: Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. withdraws Fresh Sour Cream Dill Dip and Fresh Salsa (Code dates 8/19 to 9/3, 2012), due to a “health risk.” The products were sold in the Deli Department in Copps, Mariano’s Fresh Market, Metro Market, Pick ‘n Save, and Rainbow stores.
  • Food Safety Recall: Schnucks Markets, Inc. recalls the following salads and sandwich wedges (sold from the Delis, Food Bars and Chef’s Express departments at Schnucks, Logli and Hilander stores), because they contain onions from Gills Onions that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes: Italian Pasta Salad (Sell by dates between 8/17/2012 and 8/20/2012), Greek Pasta Salad (Sell by dates between 8/13/2012 and 8/17/2012), Taco Pasta Salad (Sell by dates between 8/14/2012 and 8/20/2012), Tomato Mozzarella Salad (Sell by dates between 8/14/2012 and 8/20/2012), Egg Salad (Sell by dates between 8/8/2012 and 8/15/2012), Egg Salad Sandwich Wedge – White Bread (Sell by dates between 8/8/2012 and 8/15/2012) and Egg Salad Sandwich Wedge – Wheat Bread (Sell by dates between 8/8/2012 and 8/15/2012.
  • Food Safety Recall: Schnucks Markets, Inc. recalls the following salads (2-lb tubs; Expiration date 8/15/12; sold from the Meat Department at Schnucks, Logli and Hilander stores), because they contain onions from Gills Onions that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes: Potato Salad (UPC 1159624200), Mustard Potato Salad (UPC 1159624215), Cole Slaw (UPC 1159624203) and Macaroni Salad (UPC 1159624210).
  • Food Withdrawal: Reser’s Fine Foods and Spartan Stores, Inc. withdraw Spartan Brand Macaroni & Cheese side dish (6oz and 20oz; All lot codes), because the product has incorrect nutritional values listed on the back of the sleeve as well as an incorrect claim of “made with real cheddar cheese”. There is no cheddar cheese in the recipe.
  • Food Recall: Food City reports a recall of Eat Smart Snap Pea (8 oz). No reason is given.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns United Nutrition Labs, Inc. (Reedsville, PA) that a December 2011/January 2012 inspection of the company’s dietary supplement manufacturing facility revealed a failure to comply with the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for Dietary Supplements.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns H&L Jerch Sales, Inc., dba Bell Lifestyle Products, Inc. (South Haven, MI) that a February/March 2012 inspection of the company’s dietary supplement labeling and distribution facility found significant violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for dietary supplements.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Vienna Beauty Products (Dayton, OH) that an October-December 2011 inspection of the company’s cosmetic manufacturing facility found insanitary conditions. In addition, an analysis of a sample of Triple Lanolin Aloe Vera Foot Scrub collected during the inspection revealed significant microbial contamination, namely a high Aerpbic Plate Count, and the presence of the bacterial pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia multivorans/B. cepacia group.
  • Outbreak Alert Update: CDC reports that the Salmonella Montevideo outbreak that is linked to live baby poultry from Estes Hatchery in Springfield, Missouri has grown to 76 confirmed case-patients in 22 states. Seventeen people have been hospitalized. One of the 76 patients died, but the Salmonella infection was not considered to be a contributing factor in the person’s death.

Canada

  • Outbreak Alert (Ontario): CBC News reports a second Clostridium difficile outbreak at a Hamilton hospital. Four confirmed cases of C. difficile have been reported from the surgical trauma unit of Hamilton General. This outbreak is thought to be unrelated to the outbreak at St. Joseph’s Hospital (Charlton campus).

Europe

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.

Guest Blog: Going Public The FDA Way

The following Guest Blog first appeared on barfblog.com, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of its author, Doug Powell.

Going Public: there may be some rules but FDA says they’re a secret

by Dr. Douglas Powell

The same agencies that tout a science-based approach to foodborne illness aren’t so good at one of the 3 legs of the risk analysis stool – risk communication.

It gets lots of pandering, but almost all government agencies and industry groups, regardless of geography, are really bad at risk communication when performance is stacked up against what has been proven to work (not very much).

When to go public about health warnings – like potential outbreaks of foodborne disease – remains contentious. And no one is willing to come clean about it and say, this is when we go public and why. Or at least write it down. Bureaucrat 101 – write it down, have to do it; so don’t write it down.

I understand the flexibility public health types require to do their jobs effectively, but much of the public outrage surrounding various outbreaks – salmonella in tomatoes/jalapenos, 2008, listeria in Maple Leaf deli meats, 2008, the various leafy green recalls and outbreaks of 2010, 2011, 2012, the 1996 outbreak of cyclospora linked to Guatemalan raspberries, and the delay in clamping down on Iowa eggs – can be traced to screw ups in going public.

It’s long been a tenet of risk communication that it is better to go early with public information rather than later. People can handle all kinds of information, especially when they are informed in an honest and forthright manner.

So it’s of no surprise that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) couldn’t find anyone within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to say, this is how we decide when to go public.

“FDA has interim internal procedures describing the steps it will take to order a food recall, but these procedures have not been made public, and the agency has not provided information on when they will be. Federal internal control standards call for federal agencies to clearly document
policies, procedures, techniques, and mechanisms for implementing management directives and to make that documentation readily available for examination.”

“Similarly, FDA officials told us that they have not decided whether they will issue regulations or industry guidance to clarify for the public FDA’s procedures for ordering food recalls and that FSMA has no requirement to do so. Federal internal control standards direct federal agencies to
ensure adequate means of communicating with and obtaining information from external stakeholders who may have a significant impact on the agency achieving its goals.

“About a week-and-a-half before our closing meeting, FDA officials provided us interim internal procedures for ordering recalls of food. These interim procedures include detailed information on such topics as which officials are to be involved in an ordered food recall decision and what methods and timelines FDA officials will use to communicate with companies involved in such a recall. The interim procedures also state that FDA is to incorporate procedures into the
agency’s publicly available Regulatory Procedures Manual and other FDA documents. FDA officials have not, however, provided timelines on when they expect to make procedures publicly available.”

And it goes on like that for 61 pages.

GAO recommends, among other things, that FDA issue regulations or industry guidance to clarify its ordered food recall process and implement recommendations from others to address FDA communication challenges in advising the public about food recalls and outbreaks. The agency neither agreed nor disagreed with GAO’s recommendations but cited ongoing agency actions that are to address most recommendations.

To strengthen FDA’s process for ordering recalls, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct the Commissioner of FDA to document FDA’s process for ordering food recalls in regulations or industry guidance to include information on how the agency will weigh evidence on whether a recall is necessary.

To address FDA’s communication challenges in advising the public about food recalls and outbreaks, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct the Commissioner of FDA to implement recommendations from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council to develop, in conjunction with other federal agencies, a coordinated plan for crisis communications.

To address FDA’s communication challenges in advising the public about food recalls and outbreaks, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct the Commissioner of FDA to implement recommendations from FDA’s risk communication committee to develop a policy for communications during emerging events.

The full report is available at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-589.

About the author: Dr. Douglas Powell is a professor of food safety at Kansas State University and the publisher of barfblog.com. Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey.

Recalls and Alerts: July 30, 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: Clif Bar & Company recalls Coconut Chocolate Chip CLIF® Bars (6-packs; Best by 16MAY13G1; UPC 7-22252-66030-5) and Coconut Chocolate Chip CLIF Bars mislabeled in White Chocolate Macadamia CLIF Bar individual wrappers found in the above Coconut Chocolate Chip CLIF Bar 6-pack box with the same “Best By” date 16MAY13G1, due to the presence of undeclared coconut. The recalled bars were distributed to limited Target and Walmart stores.
  • Food Safety Recall: Huxtable’s Kitchen recalls Trader Joe’s Roasted Butternet Squash, Red Quinoa and Wheatberry Salad (9.5 oz container; Use by 7/28/2012 and 7/30/2012), because the onions used as an ingredient may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled product was distributed from 7/23/12 to 7/26/12 to Trader Joe’s stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.
  • Food Safety Recall: Burch Equipment LLC recalls whole Athena cantaloupes (Red label reading Burch Farms and referencing PLU #4319; shipped July 15th), after a random sample tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled cantaloupes were distributed to retail stores (including Hannaford) in the northeastern United States.
  • Food Safety Recall: Garden Fresh Foods (Milwaukee, WI) recalls the following Spartan Brand Prepackaged Deli Salads that may contain onions recalled by Gills Onions LLC due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination: American Potato Salad (16 oz & 3 lb; Sell by 8/9 through 8/14/12 & 8/9 through 8/20/12, respectively), Creamy Cole Slaw (16 oz & 3 lb; Sell by 8/7 through 8/20/12 & 8/9 through 8/20/12, respectively), Macaroni Salad (16 oz & 3 lb; Sell by 8/7 through 8/14/12 & 8/7 through 8/20/12, respectively), and Mustard Potato Salad (16 oz & 3 lb; Sell by 8/7 through 8/14/12 & 8/9 through 8/20/12, respectively. The recalled deli salads were sold in D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare Supermarkets, Glen’s Markets, Glen’s Fresh Market, Spartan, VG’s, VG’s Fresh Market, and Valu Land stores.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1090): Aflatoxins in chestnut flour from Italy; distributed to Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA.

Canada

  • Outbreak Alert (Ontario): One elderly person has died and 11 patients have been diagnosed with hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile at St. Joseph’s Hospital’s Charlton campus, according to CBC.  The infected patients have been placed in isolation rooms.

Europe

  • Allergy Alert: Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc recalls Morrisons Takeaway Chicken Piri Piri (350g; Use by 2 August 2012), because of a packaging error. The product may contain chicken korma, which includes nuts that are not listed in the allergy information box on the Piri Piri packaging.
  • Food Safety Recall (Sweden): Axfood recalls Marinated loin of pork (400g approx; Best before 2012-07-30, 2012-07-31, 2012-08-01, 2012-08-02), Sliced pork loin (1.25 kg; Best before 2012-07-31 and 2012-08-01), Blandfärs import loaf (1kg & 2.2kg; Best before 2012-07-31), Grilled Pork Chop (800g; Best before 2012-08-08), Pork Loin Grilled (800g; Best before 2012-08-08, 2012-08-09, 2012-08-10), and Grillbricka mini pork sirloin (600g approx; Best before 2012-07-30, 2012-07-31), because Salmonella was detected in a sample during routine examination. The recalled pork products were imported from Denmark and sold in Willys, Hemköp, Prisextra and Tempobutiker stores.
  • Outbreak Alert: The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is warning of an outbreak of Salmonella Stanley in Hungary (32 cases), Belgium (20 cases) and Germany (8 cases), all due to a single outbreak strain. Investigations are ongoing, and ECDC expects that more cases will be identified. The outbreak does not appear to be related to international travel.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1083): Aflatoxins in organic ground chili from Sri Lanka; distributed to Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1084): Carbendazim in longan from Thailand; distributed to France.
  • Food Supplement Safety Notification (EU #2012.1085): Arsenic and lead in food supplement from the USA; distributed to the United Kingdom.
  • Food Supplement Safety Notification (EU #2012.1086): Unauthorized dimethylsildenafil in food supplement from Cyprus; distributed to Poland.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1087): Metal wires in dextrose from France; distributed to the Netherlands.
  • Allergy Alert Notification (EU #2012.1088): Undeclared egg in salsa brava from Belgium; distributed to Spain.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1089): Campylobacter spp. in chilled chicken breast fillets from France; distributed to Denmark.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1090): Aflatoxins in chestnut flour from Italy; distributed to Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1091): Foreign body (pieces of asbestos-containing material) in wheat from Germany; distributed to the Netherlands.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1092): Cadmium in tuna flakes in oil and brine from Ecuador; distributed to Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Recall (Israel): Strausbhlk (שטראוסבחלק) recalls Strausbhlk Cake Products Rich Chocolate Brownies (UPC 7290100853689; Expiry date 09/08/2012), after mold was discovered in the product.
  • Food Safety Recall (Israel): Israel Beer Breweries Company recalls Prigat Grape, Prigat Grapefruit, and Prigat Oranges soft drinks (330 ml bottles; Expiration dates 01/17/13, 20/01/13, 01/19/13 and 18/1/13), due to possible contamination with glass shards in some bottles.
  • Outbreak Alert (Hong Kong): The Centre for Health Protection is investigating a case of shigatoxin-producing E. coli involving a 2-year old boy who was hospitalized for treatment of abdominal pain and vomiting. The patient had no recent travel history, and has since been discharged.
  • Outbreak Alert (Hong Kong): The Centre for Health Protection is investigating an outbreak of acute gastroenterities at two seniors’ homes in Sheung Shui. Twenty-three residents and four staff members are involved in the outbreaks. Five of the outbreak victims were hospitalized; one tested positive for Norovirus. Both homes share staff and kitchen facilities.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1090): Aflatoxins in chestnut flour from Italy; distributed to Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA.

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.