Recalls and Alerts: December 10 – 12, 2020

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.

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Interested in learning more about food safety and the history of foodborne disease outbreaks and investigations? Go to TAINTED to download the first couple of chapters of my new book.

United States

Food Safety Recall: Cozy Vale Creamery is advising consumers to discontinue consumption of their retail raw milk and cream products with the best by dates of 12-14 through 12-23 after the Washington State Department of Agriculture found shigatoxin-producing E. coli in a sample of retail raw cream dated 12-14. Consumers shouild dispose of or return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Canada

Allergy Alert: L’Hippie-Curienne recalls four varieties of Assaisonnement à tartare / Tartar seasoning (125g; Best before NOV 2022) due to undeclared soy. Please refer to the recall notice for a list of affected varieties.

Food Safety Recall: Au Ciel Café bistro recalls three varieties of soup (1L glass jars; sold up to 11 December 2020) because the products were not held at refrigeration temperature from time of purchase and lacked required labelling instructions to “keep refrigerated.”

Food Safety Recall: Farine et basilic inc. recalls Sauce à la viande / Meat sauce (500 ml glass jars; sold up to 8 December 2020) because the product was not held at refrigeration temperature from time of purchase and lacked required labelling instructions to “keep refrigerated.”

Food Safety Recall: Boucherie L’Amiral inc. recalls two smoked salmon products due to lack of proper storage instructions on the product labels. Please refer to the recall notice for complete details.

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Europe

Allergy Alert (Belgium): Aldi recalls Trader Joe’s brand Mendiants Classic (BIO) (250g; All Best before dates up to 23/05/2021) due to undeclared almonds.

Allergy Alert (Belgium): Aldi recalls Pirato brand TORTILLACHIPS – variante sweet chili / Sweet chili tortilla chips (200g; Lots 14 05 21 C 04:02 F11 46 jusqu’à et y compris 14 05 21 D 12:40 F11 46; Best before 14/05/2021) due to undeclared milk.

Allergy Alert (Finland): Snellmanin Kokkikartano Oy recalls Mr. Panini Gluteeniton kinkkupanini / Mr. Panini My Gluten Free Ham Panini (235g; Expiry dates 17.12.2020, 19.12.2020 & 24.12.2020) and Mr. Panini Gluteeniton kanapanini / Mr. Panini My gluten-free chicken panini (235g; Expiry dates 17.12.2020, 19.12.2020 & 24.12.2020) due to undeclared oats.

Allergy Alert (France): LESIEUR recalls Lesieur brand Sauce Algérienne (940g; Lot #20043G04; Expiry dates 28/02/2021 & 30/06/2021) due to undeclared mustard.

Allergy Alert (Italy): VALSOIA SPA recalls Valsoia brand Preparazione alimentare VEGETALE a base di SOIA FERMENTATA / Vegetable food preparation based on fermented soy (125g; Lot #L3210; Best before 01-03-2021) due to undeclared milk.

Allergy Alert (UK): Lakeland recalls Flower & White, Bake On Strong White Bread Flour (1.5 kg; Best before 01 May 2021 & 01 June 2021) due to undeclared gluten (wheat).

Allergy Alert (UK): Picard recalls multiple frozen products because they contain various allergens which are not listed in English on the label. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products and undeclared allergens.

Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Nakskov Mill Foods A/S recalls X-tra Cornflakes (1 kg; 20.10.2021, 21.10.2021, 02.11.2021, 03.11.2021, 04.11.2021, 11.11.2021, 18.11.2021) and First Price Cornflakes (1 kg; Best before 16.11.2021) due to foreign matter (metal pieces) contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): Auchan recalls Mère Lalie brand Terrine de lapin au serpolet / rabbit terrine with wild thyme (200g; Lot #J 09 10 2023) due to possible foreign matter (glass particles) contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): Auchan recalls Maxi Crousti de poulet / Maxi chicken crisps (400g; Lot #344060; Use by 31/12/2020) due to foreign matter contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): La Société LOSFELD DISTRIBUTION recalls Fromagerie des 2 Caps brand Fromage des 2 Caps fromage fermier au lait cru / raw milk cheese (320g; Lot #272; Use by 17/11/2020 & 21/11/2020) due to E. coli contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): Industry recalls Bonduelle brand Mesclun (145g; Lots #27631345 & 27631363; Best by 12/12/20) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): Intermarché recalls Saint Eloi brand Mesclun (125g; Lot #27631329; Use by 10/12/20) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): Industry recalls U brand Roquette salad (150g; Lot 27631323 – 27636358; Best by 10/12/20 – 11/12/20) and U brand Mesclun (175g; Lot #27631353; Best by 10/12/2020) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Luxembourg): Auchan recalls Mère Lalie brand Terrine de lapin au serpolet / rabbit terrine with wild thyme (200g; Lot #J 09 10 2023) due to possible foreign matter (glass particles) contamination.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

Food Safety Recall (Israel): Meiri Beigel Ltd. recalls Classic Grissini Crumbs (200 grams; Batch codes 29420 and 29520; Best before 20.10.2021 and 21.10.2021) due to foreign matter (small plastic chips) contamination.

Food safety takes a back seat at USDA—Again.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is tasked with two mandates that are often in conflict—protecting the agriculture and food industry and protecting US consumers from contaminated and unsafe food. For far too many years, food safety has come in a distant second in USDA’s order of priorities.

Joe Biden’s choice of Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture is a clear indicator that nothing is likely to change in the coming years.

I have been advocating for decades for the formation of a single agency—preferably one with a seat at the Cabinet table—to oversee the safety of the US food supply. Other countries have done this successfully.

Until the United States can rationalize its overlapping, conflict-of-interest laden regulatory system, consumers can count on a continuing stream of foodborne disease outbreaks and product recalls.

Phyllis Entis, MSc.

The following opinion piece was written by Dan Flynn, Managing Editor of Food Safety News. It first appeared in Food Safety News on December 10, 2020, and is reposted here with permission.

Letter From The Editor: We wish there was a difference, but there’s not

If you are recently out of office as a popular agricultural state governor and your campaign for president went bust, getting yourself appointed as Secretary of Agriculture is your next logical option. But if you’ve already done that: Why would you do it again?

Tom Vilsack, who served as Secretary of Agriculture for Barack Obama’s entire presidency, is going to take another run at the job, once the Biden Presidency gets up and running. He’ll be giving up a job that most everyone in Washington D.C. really wants — being president and CEO of a national association. He’s been President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council since 2017.

These are the jobs where seven-figure salaries are possible and the expense accounts are very attractive. Until he took the Export Council job, Vilsack’s salary almost always came from a government pay schedule. Only Vilsack can say why he wants to be Secretary of Agriculture again.

He left food safety at the USDA in a somewhat peculiar state. After Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, who Obama appointed as Under Secretary for Food Safety, left the department in December 2013, the government’s top food safety job was left vacant.

Today, the fresh produce lobby could hardly restrain itself when learning Vilsack’s back. They said it was “under his steady leadership we worked together to further the gains of the industry and broaden access to fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly for children.”

It was Vilsack who was on one end of the deal that led to the murder of the Microbiological Data Program (MDP) that provided the only meaningful harvest time testing of fruits and vegetables in the United States. The industry wanted it killed and Vilsack was a willing co-conspirator. Could the secretary have saved the mere $5 million a year program for testing at land-grant universities? In a heartbeat.

Instead of naming a new Under Secretary for Food Safety, as required by law, Obama let Vilsack name Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Administrator Al Almanza as a Deputy Under Secretary. It put the FSIS boss in a position to provide his own food safety oversight. No Senate confirmation or oversight was required for the post.

Vilsack’s move left the Obama administration without an Under Secretary for Food Safety for longer than it had one. No one in Congress seemed to know or care.

If anyone has proof that Tom Vilsack knows or cares about food safety, it might be a good time for them to come forward.

As governor of Iowa, he was known for the famous Taylor’s Maid-Rite exemption for the Marshalltown, IA, restaurant’s reckless cooking practice for loose meat. Loose meat sandwiches are mostly an Iowa thing, and Taylor’s in Marshalltown made them using a cooker that was ripe for cross-contamination.

While he was governor, Vilsack protected Taylor’s and the few others who risked food safety by winking at cross-contamination.

Vilsack and Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture “Sonny” Perdue are really two peas in a pod. Both are former ag state governors who are plugged into the industry. Just as Vilsack’s loose meat history does not add up to much of a good safety record, Perdue did not exactly run to the scene in his state when he was governor of the 2008 Salmonella outbreak caused by Peanut Corporation of American peanuts and paste either.

No one much cared about that when Perdue’s appointment as ag secretary went through four years ago. But what they care about is that USDA net farm income is projected to total $120 billion for 2020, up to $38 billion over 2019. Direct government farm payments drive that number and Perdue’s name is associated with every dollar that goes out.

And, now we can strike “Sonny’s” name and substitute “Tom Vilsack.” It’s part of a system, but one that we just cannot say has anything to do with food safety, which is always touted as a top USDA priority.

Recalls and Alerts: December 6 – 9, 2020

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

Interested in learning more about food safety and the history of foodborne disease outbreaks and investigations? Go to TAINTED to download the first couple of chapters of my new book.

United States

Allergy Alert: Market of Choice recalls Market of Choice Sour Cherry Baked Brie (Sell by dates up to and including 12/12/20; UPC 0 217241 414996) due to undeclared almonds.

Allergy Alert: George DeLallo Co., Inc. recalls Publix Bakery Holiday Cookie Platters (20 oz; Lot #W34326; Best by 10/APR/2021; UPC 41415 88690) due to undeclared pecans.

Public Health Alert: FSIS issues a public health alert for raw, fresh goat meat products that were produced without the benefit of federal inspection and outside inspection hours. Please refer to the notice for a complete list of affected products, which are believed to no longer be available for consumer purchase.

Canada

Food Safety Recall / Illness Report: Levitts Foods (Canada) Inc. recalls certain Compliments brand, Levitts brand, and The Deli-Shop brand deli meat products due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products. One illness has been reported that may be associated with consumption of these products.

Food Safety Recall: Super C Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu recalls certain products containing ground pork due to possible foreign matter (metal pieces) contamination. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.

Europe

Allergy Alert (Austria): SPAR Österreichische Warenhandels-AG recalls SPAR Vital Naturreis Langkorn fertig in 10 Min / SPAR Vital Brown Rice Long Grain Ready in 10 Min (500g; Best before 7.1.2022) due to undeclared gluten.

Allergy Alert (Ireland): FSAI alerts the public to undeclared allergens in certain batches of several Picard products. Please refer to the allergy alert for complete details.

Allergy Alert (Netherlands): Albert Heijn recalls Picard brand mini-cheesecakes (pack of 12; Expiration date 30-04-2022) due to undeclared nuts and soy.

Allergy Alert (Netherlands): Albert Heijn recalls AH Verse woksaus teriyaki / AH Fresh wok sauce teriyaki (Expiration date 18-01-2021) due to undeclared sesame and/or soy.

Food Safety Recall (Austria): SPAR Österreichische Warenhandels-AG recalls SPAR Weizenmehl universal naturrein Typ W480 / SPAR wheat flour universal natural type W480 (Batch L789 12/12:05; Best before Oktober 2021) due to bacterial contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Austria): Lidl Österreich recalls NAUTICA ASC GERÄUCHERTE FORELLENFILETS, Sortierungen Natur und Pfeffer / NAUTICA ASC SMOKED TROUT FILLETS, natural and pepper varieties (125g; Manufactured by Herstellers Agustson a/s; All Best before dates) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Belgium): Carrefour recalls Carrefour Cuisses de Dinde / Turkey legs (Lot #053283280540; Expiry date 09/12/2020) and Carrefour Pilons de Dinde / Turkey drumsticks (Lot #053283280540; Expiry date 09/12/2020) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): La Salaison du Mont Pilat recalls Salaisonniers du Pilat brand Le Jésus sausage (Lot #2026002; Best before 02/02/21) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): La Salaison du Mont Pilat recalls Salaisonniers du Pilat brand Saucisson Campagnard sausage (Lot #2026604; Best before 02/02/21) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): La société Bonduelle recalls Bonduelle brand Salade Jeunes pousses et Roquette / young shoots and arugula salad (Lot #27631359; Best before 11/12/2020) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): La société Bonduelle recalls Auchan brand Salade Roquette / Arugula salad (125g; Lots 27631324 – 27631325; Best before 0/12/2020) and Auchan brand Salade Mesclun / Mesclun salad (125g; Lot 27631328; Best before 10/12/2020) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Ireland): Industry recalls Polish Smoked Ham / Wędzonka boczkowa (Lot #0727; Best before 9/12/2020; Product of Poland) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Luxembourg): Industry recalls Tendriade brand Haché de veau junior / Junior Minced Veal (4 x 50g; Lot #73483511; Best before 09/12/2020) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Netherlands): Dirk recalls Pure Ambacht Grillworst kaas / Pure Ambacht Grill sausage cheese (Expiry date 13-12-2020) due to foreign matter (metal particles) contamination.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

Allergy Alert (Hong Kong): Tropical Trading Company recalls Kwong Cheong Thye brand Sambal Belachan Chilli Paste (230g and 1 kg; Best before November 27, 2021 and July 9, 2022, respectively), Kwong Cheong Thye brand Laksa Paste (1 kg; Best before May 29, 2022) and Kwong Cheong Thye brand Crispy Chilli (230g; November 22, 2021) due to undeclared fish.

Australia and New Zealand

Food Safety Recall (New Zealand): Pestell’s Rai Bacon Company Ltd recalls specific batches of its Pestell’s Champagne Ham, Pestell’s Cooked Ham on the Bone, Pestell’s Boneless Ham, Pestell’s Boneless Ham pieces, and Pestell’s Sliced Ham off the Bone due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected product batches.