Author: Phyllis Entis

Recalls and Alerts: April 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: Importations Casa Vivendi Inc. recalls La Vecchia Fattoria brand Cacciatore Dry Cured Sausages (approx 300g/2 units per pkg; UPC 8 81248 33336 1; Best before 12 23 JL), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled product was distributed in Quebec.
  • Food Recall: Pasta Kitchen recalls Homestyle Selections Cheese Tortellini (1.2kg; Code 12-213; UPC 7 78809 45012 7), due to a labeling issue. The packages actually contain meat lasagna. The recalled product was distributed in Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba.
  • Food Recall: Coca-Cola Bottling Company recalls Coca-Cola (355mL; Code JN2512WED). The reason for the recall was not specified. The recalled product was distributed in Quebec.

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Pharmaceutical Product Safety Alert (Hong Kong): The Department of Health warns the public not to buy or consume the oral product Fu Fang Chuan Ling Ding Chuan Jiao Nang, as it may contain one or more Western drugs that are dangerous to health.

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.

What’s The Beef With BPI?

It comes from a cow.

It’s heated. The fat is separated from the protein by centrifugation, then added back to the protein in precise amounts to achieve a targeted fat percentage.

It has been treated to kill harmful bacteria.

It contains ammonia.

Its label does not disclose any of this.

GOT MILK?!??!??!

Next time you pick up a carton or jug of pasteurized reduced fat milk, look at the label. It doesn’t say “skim milk with 2% fat added back.” It doesn’t say “whole milk processed to remove the fat and add back a measured amount.” It doesn’t say “milk contains ammonia.” It says “reduced fat milk.”

After weeks of media reports, blog posts – some accurate, others less so – and public reaction to the “pink slim” story, I am left wondering why the target has been glued so firmly to the corporate back of Beef Products, Inc. After all, BPI is not the only producer of Lean Finely Textured Beef.

Cargill, a corporation that has had its share of food safety issues over the years, also makes and sells this product. Both Cargill and BPI treat their products chemically to eliminate harmful bacteria. BPI uses ammonia, which is a natural constituent of beef. Cargill uses citric acid, which – although a natural constituent of citrus fruit – typically is produced by fermentation of a sugar solution. Chemists use a calcium hydroxide treatment, followed by a sulfuric acid treatment to recover citric acid from the fermented solution.

Contrary to how it has been characterized in a number of media reports, BPI’s lean beef product is not a filler. Fillers, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are “…mostly plant substances, low in protein and high in carbohydrates such as cereals, roots, tubers and vegetables and some refined products such as starches and flours. Pure meat products are very low in carbohydrates. Hence the addition of carbohydrate-rich substances is not an “extension” of the protein mix, but some new components “fill-up” the product volume. Apart from their volume-filling capacity, some fillers, in particular starches and flours, are also used for their capability to absorb extensive quantities of water.”

Bill Marler suggested in his Food Safety News Publisher’s Platform today that BPI should invite the public – not politicians – to tour its plant and taste its meat. Sounds like a great idea, but how many individual consumers have the time, the motivation, or the money to travel to BPI’s production plant? And would the company still be in business by the time its message was spread by word of mouth by these few consumers – even in this era of instant Internet news?

Bill also suggested that BPI should post its lab test results online, and should tell the public how the product is made and what is in it. “If you are proud of your product,” he writes, “explain in honest and clear terms why you are.”

The company has been trying to do this, including on YouTube. But their positive message is being overwhelmed by national media follow-up reports that continue to feed consumer concerns.

So, BPI invited ABC News – its most powerful media critic – to bring its camera into the plant. Yes, it also invited governors from the states in which it operates. And it invited consumer food safety advocate Nancy Donley, whose nonprofit organization, STOP Foodborne Illness, it helps support.

The plant tour was followed by a news conference, which can be viewed in its entirely here.

This is no longer a story about food safety – if it ever was. Near the end of the news conference, Jim Avila of ABC News was taken to task by Texas Governor Rick Perry. After first declining to answer Perry’s questions, Avila acknowledged that the safety of BPI’s meat was not at issue.

“We have,” Avila admitted, “never said this product is unsafe.”

Recalls and Alerts: March 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

  • Allergy Alert: The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC and Giant Food, LLC recall Simply Enjoy Frozen Vanilla Cream Puffs (19.4-oz pkg; UPC 8826712409), due to the presence of undeclared milk. The recalled product was sold in Giant Food supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia, and in Stop & Shop supermarkets in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey.
  • Allergy Alert: Taylor Farms New Jersey, Inc. (Swedesboro, NJ) recalls GOOD & deLISH ISLAND SEASONED CHICKEN (10-oz plastic trays and 12.5-lb cases; Est. No. P-3453; Case codes 089512 or 119312; Use by dates from March 30 to April 4, 2012), due to the presence of undeclared wheat and milk resulting from a labeling error. The recalled products were shipped to a distribution center and retail locations in the New York City area.
  • Outbreak Alert: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting three overlapping multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections linked to exposure to small turtles or their environments. Sixty-six people in 16 states have been infected with one of the outbreak strains – Salmonella Sandiego, Salmonella Pomona and Salmonella Poona – since September 2011. Eleven people were hospitalized; 55% of the confirmed victims are children 10 years of age or younger.
  • Outbreak Alert (New York): The New York City Department of Health is investigating two cases (one confirmed) of botulism that may be associated with unrefrigerated fresh bulk tofu, according to WABC New York. Both patients are Chinese-speaking residents of Queens, and purchased the tofu from the same store in Flushing, NY.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Canadian Natural & Specialty Brands (Gormley, ON) recalls Sunstart Brand Chocolate & Orange Cookies (198g pkgs; UPC 8 77099 00005 5; Lot code L11139; Best if used by 2013 APR 26), due to the presence of undeclared milk. The product was distributed nationally.
  • Food Safety Recall: Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds Ltd. (Parkside, SK) recalls Mumm’s brand Sprouting Seeds – Sunflower (75g; UPC 7 73295 07582 3; Lot #SF2020), because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled product is known to have been distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, and may have been distributed nationally.
  • Food Recall: Ontario Natural Food Co-op recalls Ontario Natural Food Co-op brand Organic Thyme, Organic Basil, Organic Italian Seasoning, Organic Savoury Seasoning, Organic Oregano and Organic Rosemary (21g pkgs; Best by May 2012), due to the presence of “non-harmful” extraneous material. The recalled products were sold in Ontario.

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall/Alert (Multiple Countries): Health authorities in the United Kingdom, France and Italy NOT TO USE food-grade chemicals purchased from Mistral Laboratory Chemicals (Antrim, Northern Ireland) or bearing the Mistral brand name. This warning follows the death of a woman at a private medical clinic in Italy, and the serious illness of two other people in Italy who were reported to have consumed “Sorbitol Food Grade” from this company. Lab analysis has determined that the product actually consisted of sodium nitrite, a food additive that can cause cardiovascular problems if consumed in large doses. The company has ceased all food product sales and is cooperating with the UK Food Standards Agency investigation.
  • Food Safety Recall (Greece): Unison Hellas recalls Yummy Gummy brand Meyveler, Hot Dog, Alligator, and Tarantula candies. Please refer to the recall notice for details.

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.