Novartis Gives Consumers Excedrin Headache

“Your Quality Unit has failed in the responsibility and authority to monitor Quality Systems designed to assure the quality of drug products manufactured and packaged at your firm.”

– FDA to Novartis Consumer Health (Lincoln, Nebraska), July 8, 2011

On July 8, 2011, FDA completed an inspection of Novartis Consumer Health (Lincoln, Nebraska), and handed the company a report (Form 483) listing 13 separate “Observations” relating to deficiencies in Novartis’ quality assurance and complaint handling systems.

About one month later, Giant® Food Stores notified its customers that Novartis had recalled Excedrin Extra Strength Caplets, 100-count (Lot #10068948; Expiration date March 31, 2010), “as a result of instances of product mix-ups found in the lot” (posted on eFoodAlert September 7, 2011).

On November 1, 2011, Giant® Food Stores warned its customers of another Novartis recall – Excedrin – Pain Reliever Acetaminophen Adult, 100 CO (Lot #10087530; Expiration date 3/31/2013). Again, the recall was due to product mix-up occurrences in the lot. That same day, Food City posted a recall notice for three Novartis products, including Excedrin Extra Strength Caplets 24 count, Excedrin Migraine Caplets 24 count, and Excedrin Floorstand ES Migraine with $1 IRC. More retailers chimed in the following day, and a consolidated list of recalled lots was provided on eFoodAlert’s Recalls and Alerts: November 2, 2011.

Today (January 8, 2012), in an unusual Sunday announcement, Novartis Consumer Health, Inc. issued a News Release detailing the recall of “…all lots of select bottle packaging configurations of Excedrin® and NoDoz® products with expiry dates of December 20, 2014 or earlier as well as Bufferin® and Gas-X Prevention® products with expiry dates of December 20, 2013 or earlier, in the United States. NCH is taking this action as a precautionary measure because the products may contain stray tablets, capsules, or caplets from other Novartis products, or contain broken or chipped tablets.”

Am I being silly, or is it just possible that FDA’s posting on January 5th of the July 8, 2011 Novartis Inspectional “Observations” Report might be somehow tied into this sudden decision by Novartis to go public?

Here are just a few excerpts from the report. These are direct quotations. Read them and decide for yourself.

You have failed to open deviation investigations into numerous “critical” consumer complaints of foreign products found inside the drug products manufactured at your firm.
You have failed to adequately investigate 166 complaint instances of foreign tablets in your drug products since 2009.
You have failed to extend investigations to all batches of product potentially affected by a problem.
You have received numerous consumer complaints which were not submitted to the FDA as required by your firm’s procedures.
Your Quality Assurance review of critical foreign tablet complaint investigations (Technical Complaint Investigation Reports) is not occurring in a timely manner… There are approximately 138 reports that took over 100 days to review.
You have failed to identify the root cause of customer complaints for solid dosage form foreign tablets of products manufactured at your firm since at least 2009.
Your Unplanned Deviation Reports are deficient in that conclusions drawn are not supported by the evidence in the reports.
Your Quality Assurance Unit has consistently failed to review critical complaints for drug products manufactured and packaged at your facility. For example [for 2011], 223 critical complaints have not been properly reviewed out of 223 critical complaints received by your firm… Also, your Quality Assurance review of critical complaints ceased in mid-October 2010. This deficiency was unnoticed by your Quality Unit until this FDA inspection.

The entire report is 13 pages long. It details lapses in procedure, in judgment, and in training.

In addition to the recall, Novartis advises that its Lincoln, NE facility “…has voluntarily suspended operations and shipments to accelerate maintenance and other improvement activities at the site.”

I have to ask – WHAT TOOK SO LONG?

Novartis has promised to have a dedicated web page (www.novartisOTC.com) in operation by January 9th to provide consumers with detailed information on its newly announced recall. The complete list of recalled products follows:

Bufferin® Extra Strength Tablets 130CT: UPC 300672065131
Bufferin® Extra Strength Tablets 39CT: UPC 300672065391
Bufferin® Low Dose Tablets 130CT: UPC 300676424132
Bufferin® Regular Strength Tablets 130CT: UPC 300672063137
Excedrin® Back & Body Caplets 100CT Account Specific: UPC
300676238920
Excedrin® Back & Body Caplets 100CT Account Specific No Carton: UPC 300676238944
Excedrin® Back & Body Caplets 100CT New Label: UPC 300676238913
Excedrin® Back & Body Caplets 24CT New Label: UPC
300676238241
Excedrin® Back & Body Caplets 50CT New Label: UPC
300676238500
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672000927
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672000941
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672000941
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672000910
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 100CT: UPC 300672000910
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 125CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672000835
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 125CT Bonus Pack Account Specific: UPC 300672000842
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 125CT New Carton: UPC 300672000866
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 24+6CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672000309
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 24CT: UPC 300672000248
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672000248
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 250CT No Carton: UPC 300672000071
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 250CT No Carton New Label: UPC 300672000071
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 250CT Special Inner: UPC 300672000774
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 250CT New Label: UPC 300672000774
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 300CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672000552
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 50CT New Label: UPC 300672000507
Excedrin® Extra Strength Caplets 50S: UPC 300672000507
Excedrin® Extra Strength Express Gel Caps 20CT New Label: UPC 300676270203
Excedrin® Extra Strength Express Gel Caps 40CT New Label: UPC 300676270401
Excedrin® Extra Strength Express Gel Caps 80CT Account Specific: UPC 300676270814
Excedrin® Extra Strength Express Gel Caps 80CT: UPC 300676270807
Excedrin® Extra Strength Express Gel Caps 80CT Account Specific: UPC 300676270944
Excedrin® Extra Strength Gel Tablets 24CT: UPC 300672021243
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 100CT Special Inner: UPC
300672030917
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672030931
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672030948
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 100CT New Label: UPC 300672030917
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 125CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672030832
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 125CT Bonus Pack New Carton: UPC 300672030863
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 200CT New Label: UPC 300672030924
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 24+6CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672030306
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 24CT: UPC 300672030245
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672030245
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 250+50CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672030573
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 250CT No Carton: UPC 300672030078
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 250CT No Carton New Label: UPC 300672030078
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 250CT Special Inners: UPC 300672030771
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 250CT New Label: UPC 300672030771
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 300CT New Carton: UPC 300672030337
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 300CT Club Tray: UPC 300672030337
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 300CT New Label: UPC 300672030337
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 300S: UPC 300672030337
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 50CT: UPC 300672030504
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 50CT New Label: UPC 300672030504
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 8CT: UPC 300672030085
Excedrin® Extra Strength Tablets 8CT New Label: UPC 300672030085
Excedrin® Migraine Express Gel Caplets 20CT New Label: UPC 300676341200
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 100CT: UPC 300672039910
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672039941
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 100CT Account Specific No Carton: UPC 300672039941
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672043917
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 100CT New Label: UPC 300672039910
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 125CT Bonus Pack No Carton: UPC 300672039842
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 125CT Bonus Pack New Carton: UPC 300672039866
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 125CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672039835
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 200CT New Label: UPC 300672039927
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 24+6CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672039309
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 24CT: UPC 300672039248
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672039248
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 250+50CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672039576
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 250CT No Carton: UPC 300672039071
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 250CT No Carton New Label: UPC 300672039071
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 250CT Special Inners: UPC 300672039774
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 250CT New Label: UPC 300672039774
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 300CT: UPC 300672039330
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 300CT New Carton: UPC 300672039330
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 300CT New Label: UPC 300672039330
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 300CT Club Tray: UPC 300672039330
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 50CT New Label: UPC 300672039507
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 50CT: UPC 300672039507
Excedrin® Migraine Caplets 8CT New Label: UPC 300672039088
Excedrin® Migraine Gel Tablets 160CT: UPC 300672035165
Excedrin® Migraine Gel Tablets 100CT Special Inner: UPC 300672035912
Excedrin® Migraine Gel Tablets 100CT New Label: UPC 300672035912
Excedrin® Migraine Gel Tablets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672044914
Excedrin® Migraine Gel Tablets 24CT – New Label: UPC 300672035240
Excedrin® Migraine Gel Tablets 2X50CT: UPC 300672035936
Excedrin® Migraine Gel Tablets 50CT New Label: UPC 300672035509
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 100CT Special Inner: UPC 300672037916
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 100CT New Label: UPC 300672037916
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 125CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672037831
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 24+6CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672037305
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 24CT: UPC 300672037244
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672037244
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 250CT Special Inner: UPC 300672037770
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 250CT New Label: UPC 300672037770
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 50CT: UPC 300672037503
Excedrin® Migraine Tablets 50CT New Label: UPC 300672037503
Excedrin® PM Caplets 100CT New Label: UPC 300672055910
Excedrin® PM Caplets 125CT Bonus Pack New Carton: UPC 300672055866
Excedrin® PM Caplets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672055248
Excedrin® PM Caplets 50CT New Label: UPC 300672055507
Excedrin® PM Express Gel Caplets 20CT: UPC 300676405209
Excedrin® PM Express Gel Caplets 80CT Account Specific: UPC 300676405810
Excedrin® PM Express Gel Caplets 80CT No Carton: UPC 300676409801
Excedrin® PM Express Gel Caplets 80CT New Label: UPC 300676405803
Excedrin® PM Tablets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672053923
Excedrin® PM Tablets 100CT Account Specific No Carton: UPC 300672053947
Excedrin® PM Tablets 100CT New Label: UPC 300672053916
Excedrin® PM Tablets 125CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672053831
Excedrin® PM Tablets 24+6CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672053305
Excedrin® PM Tablets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672053244
Excedrin® PM Tablets 50CT New Label: UPC 300672053503
Excedrin® PM Tablets 8CT New Label: UPC 300672053084
Excedrin® Sinus Headache Caplets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672062246
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 100CT Special Inner: UPC 300672045911
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 100CT Account Specific No Carton: UPC 300672045942
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 100CT Account Specific No Carton New Label: UPC 300672045942
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 100CT Account Specific: UPC 300672045959
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 100CT New Label: UPC 300672045911
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 125CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672045836
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 125CT Bonus Pack No Carton: UPC 300672045843
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 24+6CT Bonus Pack: UPC 300672045300
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 24CT Special Inner: UPC 300672045249
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672045249
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 250CT: UPC 300672045775
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 250CT No Carton: UPC 300672045072
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 50CT Special Inner: UPC 300672045508
Excedrin® Tension Headache Caplets 50CT New Label: UPC 300672045508
Excedrin® Tension Headache Express Gel Caplets 20CT: UPC 300676272207
Excedrin® Tension Headache Express Gel Caplets 40CT: UPC 300676272405
Excedrin® Tension Headache Express Gel Caplets 80CT Account Specific: UPC 300676272948
Excedrin® Tension Headache Express Gel Caplets 80CT: UPC 300676272801
Excedrin® Tension Headache Gel Tablets 24CT New Label: UPC 300672050243
Gas-X® Prevention® Caplets 20CT: UPC 300433005208
Gas-X® Prevention® Caplets 50CT: UPC 300433005505
NoDoz® Maximum Strength Caplets 16CT: UPC 300672070166
NoDoz® Maximum Strength Caplets 16CT New Graphic: UPC 300672070166
NoDoz® Maximum Strength Caplets 36CT: UPC 300672070364
NoDoz® Maximum Strength Caplets 36CT New Graphic: UPC
300672070364
NoDoz® Maximum Strength Caplets 60CT: UPC 300672070609
NoDoz® Maximum Strength Caplets 60CT New Graphic: UPC 300672070609

The recall encompasses all production lots of these products distributed in the USA. In addition, two of the recalled products – Excedrin Extra Strength Caplets and Excedrin Tension Headache Caplets – were exported to Canada. Following is a list of retail supermarkets and pharmacies in the USA and Canada who stocked the recalled products (updated January 17, 2012):

Acme: Excedrin, Bufferin, NoDoz & Gas-X Prevention
Albertsons: Excedrin, Bufferin, NoDoz & Gas-X Prevention
Big Y: Excedrin and Gas-X
Buehler’s Fresh Foods: Excedrin, Bufferin, GasX and NoDoz
Copps: All lot codes of Excedrin, Bufferin, No-Doze and Gas-X Prevention
Costco: Excedrin products (Costco Item ##720393,#672030, #146557, #618236, and #6189) sold on or after January 8, 2009
Costco Canada: Excedrin Extra Strength Caplets and Excedrin Tension Headache Caplets (All expiration dates up to and including December 20, 2014)
D&W Fresh Market: Bufferin and Excedrin products
Family Fare Supermarkets: Bufferin and Excedrin products
Food City: Assorted Excedrin, No Doz, Bufferin & Gas-X Items
Giant Eagle: Bufferin, Excedrin, Gas-X and NoDoz
Giant® Food Stores: Excedrin, Bufferin, No Doz & Gas-X
The Kroger Company (including Kroger, King Soopers, City Market, Jay C, Dillons, Baker’s Gerbes, Fry’s, Food4Less, Food4Less Fremont, FoodsCo, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Smith’s and QFC stores): Bufferin, Excedrin, No Doz and Gas-X
Glen’s: Bufferin and Excedrin products
Glen’s Fresh Market: Bufferin and Excedrin products
H-E-B: Bufferin, Excedrin, Gas-X Prevention and NoDoz
Mariano’s Fresh Market: All lot codes of Excedrin, Bufferin, No-Doze, Gas-X
Metro Market: All lot codes of Excedrin, Bufferin, No-Doze, Gas-X
Pick ‘n Save: All lot codes of Excedrin, Bufferin, No-Doze, Gas-X
Price Chopper: Excedrin, Bufferin, GasX, No Doz
Publix: Excedrin, Gas-X, Bufferin and No-Doz
Rainbow: All lots of Excedrin, Bufferin, No-Doze, Gas-X
Rite Aid: Bufferin, Excedrin, Gas-X Prevention and NoDoz products
Schnucks: (including Schnucks, Logli and Hilander stores): Excedrin, Bufferin, NoDoz and Gas-X Prevention
ShopRite: Bufferin, Excedrin, NoDoz and Gas-X Prevention products
Spartan: Bufferin and Excedrin products
Target: Excedrin and Gas-X Prevention products
Top Food & Drug: Excedrin and Bufferin products
Valu Land: Bufferin and Excedrin products
VG’s Fresh Market: Bufferin and Excedrin products
VG’s Grocery: Bufferin and Excedrin products
Walgreens: Provides link to recall notice on FDA site
Walmart (including Walmart and Sam’s Club stores): Excedrin, N0Doz, Bufferin and Gas-X Prevention products
Wegmans: Bufferin, Excedrin, Gas-X Prevention and NoDoz products

Recalls and Alerts: January 8, 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

OTC Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall: Novartis Consumer Health, Inc. (Parsippany, NJ) recalls select bottle packaging configurations of Excedrin® products (All lots; Expiry dates of December 20, 2014 or earlier), NoDoz® products (All lots; Expiry dates of December 20, 2014 or earlier, Bufferin® products (All lots; Expiry dates of December 20, 2013 or earlier), and Gas-X Prevention® products (All lots; Expiry dates of December 20, 2013 or earlier), because the products may contain stray tablets, capsules or caplets from other Novartis products, or may contain broken or chipped tablets. The recalled products were distributed throughout the USA.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

Food Safety Alert (China): The Shenzhen food safety regulator reports having found aflatoxin in peanuts sold in three stores in the region and in cooking oil from four restaurants.
Food Safety Alert (Hong Kong): The Centre for Food Safety has suspended import of poultry products from certain places in Shenzhen after a confirmed human case of avian influenza (H5N1) was reported.
Outbreak Alert (Hong Kong): The Centre for Health Protection reports an outbreak of gastroenteritis among two staff members and 19 residents (all women) of a home for the elderly in Kwun Tong District.
Outbreak Alert (Hong Kong): The Centre for Health Protection reports a suspected food poisoning outbreak among 10 female residents of a halfway house in Wong Tai Sin.
Outbreak Alert (Jordan): Sixteen residents of Zarqa (east of Amman) were hospitalized with food poisoning symptoms earlier this month. All were reported in stable condition.
Outbreak Alert (India): Four children and three adults were hospitalized with food poisoning symptoms after sharing a morning meal in Bhuna village.
Outbreak Alert (India): Six girls are in serious condition and as many as 58 students in all began vomiting after having lunch at a government ashram school in Borgaon village. The girls complained of nausea and giddiness.

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.

A&P
Big Y® World Class Market®
BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc.
Bloom
Brookshire’s
Costco Wholesale Corporation (US stores)
Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
EDEKA (Germany)
Food City
Food Lion
Giant Food LLC
Gros Cidac (Italy)
Hannaford Brothers Co.
Harris Teeter
H-E-B
The Kroger Company*
Lucky Supermarkets
Price Chopper
Publix
Raley’s
Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc.
Safeway**
Sainsbury’s
ShopRite
Stop & Shop
Sweetbay Supermarkets
Target
Top Food & Drug
Tops Friendly Markets
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Wegmans
Whole Foods Market
WinCo Foods
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.

*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: January 7, 2012

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: Enhorabuena! (Bayamón, PR) recalls Palitos de Guayaba/Guava Sticks (7-oz bags, 11-oz cans and 10-unit packs), due to the presence of undeclared milk, wheat, tree nuts, and eggs. The recalled product was distributed in Puerto Rico retail stores during December 2011.
Allergy Alert: Bloch’s Best Inc. dba Laromme (Monsey, NY) recalls Laromme brand Vanilla Rugelach (14-oz containers; UPC 87062500954-8), due to the presence of undeclared eggs. The recalled product was distributed in retail stores in Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey between November 2nd and December 22, 2011.
Allergy Alert: Price Chopper recalls Gourmet Stuffed Clams (UPC 20918100000; Sold October 1st through December 23, 2011), due to the presence of undeclared milk, wheat and eggs.
Food Safety Alert: The Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Pepin Heights Orchards advise consumers to avoid drinking Pepin Heights brand Honeycrisp 100 Percent Fresh Pressed Apple Cider (64-oz plastic jugs; Use by FEB 09 12), after department lab tests found some product may be contaminated with patulin, a mycotoxin. The affected product was distributed in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Food Safety Recall: Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Meat and Poultry Inspection Program temporarily halts all cooked-meat processing for retail and wholesale at Kleoppel Meats d.b.a Alma Meats (Alma, MO) due to violations identified during an inspection. Kleoppel Meats d.b.a. Alma Meats is recalling 320 pounds of meat, including summer sausage, snack sticks, beef jerky and roast pork produced on various dates between November 14, 2011 and November 23, 2011.
Food Safety Recall: Green Valley Food Corp. expands its earlier recall of Let’s Grow Healthy Together, Green Valley Food Corp, and Broccosprouts sprout and salad blend products to include additional products. The recall was initiated after random samples tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. Please refer to the January 3, 2012 recall notice for a detailed list of recalled products.
Food Safety Recall: Bekkum Family Farms LLC (Westby, WI) recalls Nordic Creamery Brand Grumpy Goat Shreds (8 oz bags; Code date 10-MAR-12), because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled product was sold in Wisconsin, Minnesota and California beginning November 11, 2011.
Food Safety Recall: S. Martinelli & Company (Watsonville, CA) recalls Martinelli’s Gold Medal Sparkling Cider (250mL glass bottles in six-packs; Best by 11 APR 2014, 12 APR 2014, 13 APR 2014 and 14 APR 2014), due to the possibility of a defective seal that could break when opening the bottle. The recalled product was distributed in the Western USA.
Food Safety Recall: Rich Products Corporation recalls 1/4 Sheet Vanilla Flavored Pre-Soaked Sponge Cake Artificially Flavored (Product Code 00405; Produced after July 10, 2011), because small plastic fragments from the packaging were found on top of the product. The recalled product was produced by Rich’s in Ocoyoacac, Mexico and imported into the USA by Rich’s.
Outbreak Alert Update: CDC reports that 19 cases of Salmonella Typhimurium infections in seven states are linked to consumption of ground beef purchased from Hannaford supermarkets. The confirmed illnesses were reported in Hawaii (1), Kentucky (1), Massachusetts (1), Maine (4), New Hampshire (6), New York (5) and Vermont (1).

Europe

Allergy Alert (Germany): Milupa GmbH recalls Milubrei Abendbrei Banana Cereal, for ages 4-months and up, due to the presence of undeclared gluten and wheat.
Food Safety Recall (Switzerland): Ferme de Jouvence recalls Le Camembert Fermier (275g pkg; Lot #11309VC; Best if used by 14.01.2012), because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella. The camembert was imported into Switzerland from France in mid-December 2011.
Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (France): Le Laboratoire Hospira France recalls Tomudex 2mg Powder for Infusion solution (Lots #1857244V (EXP février 2013), 1857244M (EXP février 2013), 1857244F (EXP février 2013), 1857245P (EXP mars 2013), and 1857245W (EXP mars 2013)), because the sterility of the product may not be assured.

Australia and New Zealand

Food Safety Recall (Australia): Coles Supermarkets Pty Ltd recalls Coles Frozen Chicken and Vegetable Pies (4-pack/700g; Best before 18 MAR 13 and 19 MAR 13), due to the presence of bone fragments. The recalled products were distributed nationally in Coles, BI-LO and Pick n’ Pay stores.