Recalls and Alerts: October 23, 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.

United States

• Food Safety Recall: Higa Meat & Pork Market (Honolulu, HI) recalls Higa Market Ground Beef – Bulk (1-6 x 10-lb bags/carton or case; Est 12457M; Case code #291; Produced Oct 17, 2012), because the meat may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The recalled meat was distributed to restaurants in the Oahu, HI area.
• Food Safety Recall: Main Street Quality Meats (Salt Lake City, UT) recalls Ground  Beef Bulk (10-lb cases; Est 19916; Lot Nos. 1018121, 1019121, 1018122 or 1019122; Produced Oct 18 & 19, 2012) and Ground Beef Patties (12-lb cases; Est 19916; Lot Nos. 1018121, 1019121, 1018122 or 1019122; Produced Oct 18 & 19, 2012), because the meat may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The recalled meat was distributed to restaurants in Utah.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Sun Boricua, Inc. (Camuy, PR) that a June 2012 inspection of the company’s seafood manufacturing facility found serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Advanced Nutritional Technology Inc. (Dublin, CA) that an April-May 2012 inspection of the company’s dietary supplement facility found serious violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for dietary supplements.
• FDA Warning letter: FDA warns Gold Coast United, Inc. (Elkridge, MD) that a June 2012 inspection of the company’s manufacturing facility found insanitary conditions and serious violations of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 110 – Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food regulation.

Europe

• Allergy Alert (Denmark): Frellsen Kaffe recalls Rooibush Julethe tea (bags of 100g; Best before 30-09-2014), because the tea contains undeclared almonds.
• Outbreak Alert Update (Northern Ireland): The Public Health Agency reports that, as of October 23rd, there were 119 confirmed cases and 163 probable cases of E. coli O157 infections linked to Flicks restaurant in Cityside Mall, Belfast. The number of suspect cases is leveling off as fewer new case reports are being received.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1478): Listeria monocytogenes in mozzarella from Spain; distributed to France.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1479): Chlortetracycline in veal carcass from Italy; distributed to Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany and Italy
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1480): Excessive Escherichia coli in mussels from France; distributed to France and Luxembourg.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1481): Metal pieces in biscuits from the United Kingdom; distributed to Ireland and the United Kingdom.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1482): Excessive Escherichia coli in mussels form Spain; distributed to Italy.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1483): Listeria monocytogenes in smoked rainbow trout fillets from Chile; distributed to Spain.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.1484): Listeria monocytogenes in frozen crab meat from Ireland; distributed to France, Ireland and Spain.

Australia and New Zealand

• Outbreak Alert (Australia): Food Standards Australia New Zealand reports twenty-seven confirmed or suspected cases of Salmonella illnesses associated with the consumption of some batches of raw almonds supplied by Select Harvests and sold as Woolworths Almond Kernels (Best before 05/02/13; 06/04/13; 07/04/13; 12/04/13) and as Flannerys Own Almonds in 500gm and 1kg zip-lock sealed pouch (Best before dates between 02/07/13 and 05/10/13). The raw almonds were recalled on October 4th and 10th, respectively.

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.