Author: Phyllis Entis

Recalls and Alerts: November 24, 2011

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: Berk Lombardo (Brooklyn, NY) recalls Berk Lombardo Chicken Breast Stuffed Broccoli & Cheese (4 x 6oz pkgs), Berk Lombardo Chicken Breast with rib meat Cordon Bleu Breaded (4 x 6oz pkgs), and Berk Lombardo Stuffed Chicken Breast Kiev (4 x 6oz pkgs), because the uncooked frozen, stuffed chicken products may contain one or more of the following undeclared ingredients: eggs, milk, monosodium glutamate or soy. The recalled products all bear the establishment number P-19034 inside the USDA mark of inspection and were sold directly to individual households throughout Long Island, NY.
  • Allergy Alert: Caribbean Rum Balls (St. Thomas, VI) recalls Caribbean brand Rum Balls (4, 8 & 12-oz pkgs), because the product contains undeclared wheat, coconut, milk, eggs and sodium bisulfite (a preservative). The recalled Rum Balls were distributed locally in retail stores and also through mail orders.
  • Allergy Alert: Maxipan Bakery Corp (West Hempstead, NY) recalls Semita De Pina (8-oz pkgs), because the product may contain undeclared milk. The recalled product was distributed in New York and New Jersey.
  • Food Safety Recall: King & Prince Seafood Corp. (Brunswick, GA) recalls Nova Style Cold Smoked Salmon, Sable Fish Lox, Salmon Sushi Fillets, and Salmon Trim (Date codes: 1277W, 1278W, 1279W, 1280W, 1281W, 1283W, 1284W, 1285W, 1286W, 1287W, 1290W, 1291W, 1292W, 1293W, 1294W, 1297W, 1298W, 1299W, 1300W, 1303W, 1306W, 1311W, 1312W, 1313W, and 1314W), because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Please refer to the recall notice for a detailed list of recalled brands, which were distributed nationwide through brokers and foodservice distributors beginning on October 4, 2011. Although all of the products were originally distributed frozen, they may be sold refrigerated at the retail level.
  • Food Safety Recall: Four Star Import & Distribution Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) recalls Noya Brand Boyal Dry Fish (Product of Bangladesh; 200g plastic bags; Best before Dec 2012), because the product was not properly eviscerated prior to processing, and may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores.
  • Food Safety Recall: Four Star Import & Distribution Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) recalls Munia Brand Churi Dry Fish (Product of Bangladesh; 200g plastic bags; Best before April 2013), because the product was not properly eviscerated prior to processing, and may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores.
  • Food Safety Recall: Cozy Vale Creamery (Tenino, WA) recalls unpasteurized whole and skim milk and cream (Sell by dates of Dec 6, 2011 or earlier), because the products may be contaminated with toxin-producing E. coli. Three illnesses have been reported in Cozy milk customers since August, according to an article in The Olympian. The recalled raw milk products were sold at the on-farm store in Tenino and some retail locations.
  • Food Safety Recall: Giant Eagle reports the recall of Valu Time Pumpkin (UPC 1122506619; All lot codes), because the product “does not meet quality standards.”

Canada

  • Food Safety Alert: An earlier recall of Woody’s brand alcoholic beverages (330mL bottles) has been expanded to include all lot codes of the following products, because the products may contain glass fragments: Appletini Apple Vodka Cooler, Orangetini Orange Vodka Cooler, Pomtini Vodka & Pomegranate Cooler, Woody’s Blackcurrant & Apple Alcoholic Vodka Beverage, Woody’s Blueberry, Woody’s Light Orange Alcoholic Vodka Beverage (99 Orange), Woody’s Light Raspberry Alcoholic Vodka Beverage (99 Raspberry), Woody’s Mexican Lime Alcoholic Vodka Beverage, Woody’s Party Pack (mixed flavors), Woody’s Pineapple and Grapefruit Alcoholic Vodka Beverage, Woody’s Pink Grapefruit Alcoholic Vodka Beverage, Woody’s Refresher Original,Woody’s Sasparilla Original Alcoholic Beverage, and Woody’s Vodka Cola Original Alcoholic Beverage. The products were distributed Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Yukon Territories, and may have been sold nationally.
  • Food Safety Recall: Ready-Bake Foods Inc. (Mississauga, ON) recalls Bake At Home® D’Italiano Garlic Rolls (405g; Date codes 199M through to 241M), because the oven-ready plastic food trays can meld when the product is baked in the oven at temperatures higher than 400°F. The recalled products were sold from August 2011 to November 2011.
  • Consumer Product Safety Recall: Costco Canada recalls Kirkland Signature by Borghese Cosmetic Brush Set (Costco Item #517737), because some of the brushes may contain yeast. The products were manufactured by International Beauty Products (Pine Brook, NJP and were sold in Costco warehouses in Canada between August 2011 and October 2011.

Europe

  • Allergy Alert (Netherlands): DEEN Supermarkets recalls DEEN Chicken Cordon Bleu (2 pieces/pkg; Expiry date 12/01/2011), due to the presence of undeclared peanuts. Due to an error, the packages may contain schnitzel fill with peanut sauce.
  • Allergy Alert (FInland): Atria Finland Oy recalls Atria Kulinaari Pork Palvifilee (175g pkg; Expiry dates 23/11/2011, 28/11/2011, 11/30/2011, 12/05/2011, 07/12/2011, and 12/08/2011) because the product contains undeclared hydrolyzed soy protein.
  • Allergy Alert (Sweden): Be-Ji Oat Balls Ltd. withdraws Chocolate and Old Fashioned Oat Balls (Best before 06.01.2012), because they may contain traces of undeclared milk protein.
  • Allergy Alert (Sweden): ICA withdraws ICA Asia and Euro Shopper brands of noodles (85g pkgs; All best before dates; various flavors), because the noodles contain undeclared milk protein.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Flex Pack Industry recalls Villaverde brand toasted pine nuts (1kg pkg; Best before January 2012), because the product contains aflatoxin above the allowable limit.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): IGOS A/S recalls Pleasure Jam Blueberry Jam (Batch L778, Best before 09.10.12; Batch L463, Best before 04.01.13), due to mold growth on the surface of the jam.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1687): Mercury in frozen precooked tuna from Colombia; distributed to Italy.
  • Food Supplement Safety Notification (EU #2011.1688): Didecyldimethylammonium chloride in grapefruit seed extract from Italy; distributed to Finland and Sweden.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1689): Salmonella spp. in minced pork and turkey meat from Poland; distributed to Lithuania.

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.

Recalls and Alerts: November 23, 2011

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: TransOcean recalls TransOcean brand Wild Sockeye Smoked Salmon (UPC 71516630201; Lot 1280W and 1293W) due to possible Listeria contamination. The recalled product was sold in Giant Eagle grocery stores.
  • Food Recall: Giant Eagle advises that Food Club Solid Pack Pumpkin (UPC 3680089519; all lots; all dates) because the product does not meet quality standards.
  • FDA Enforcement Action: FDA is seeking a permanent injunction agains the dietary supplement manufacturers ATF Fitness Products Inc, Manufacturing ATF Dedicated Excellence, Inc. and James G. Vercellotti (owner and operator of both companies), on the grounds that the dietary supplement maker and owner substituted ingredients and products without noting the changes on final product labels. The injunction would stop the defendants from amking and distributing more than 400 products.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1683): Listeria monocytogenes in chilled gorgonzola from Italy; distributed to France, Italy and the USA.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: 3903052 Canada Inc. (Est No. 1874; Boisbriand, QC) expands its earlier recall of cheeses to include additional products , because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The cheese products, which include cheeses sold under the Clic, Deschamps, Fromagerie Marie Kadé and TIFCO brand names, were distributed in Ontario and Quebec. One reported illness has been associated with consumption of the products.

Europe

  • Food Safety Alert (UK): The Food Standards Agency warns the public not to consume Drop Vodka, an illegal brand of vodka that has been found on sale in some shops. The brand is not registered by any company in the UK and has been found to be contain propan-2-ol (rubbing alcohol) and methanol (wood alcohol), both of which are toxic. Anyone finding Drop Vodka on sale should contact their local health authority or the Food Standards Agency food fraud hotline on 020 7276 8527.
  • Food Safety Recall (Belgium): Delhaize Belgique recalls Delhaize Tiroler Salami en tranches/Delhaize sliced Tyrol Salami (150g; Best before 01.01.12), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
  • Food Safety Recall (Sweden): Atria Scandinavia recalls Hot Dogs produced November 17th and 18th 2011, because the products may be contaminated with Listeria.
  • Food Safety Recall (Germany): Pepper King eK recalls King Pepper chili extract 11 million, Satan’s Blood, 1 million Scoville Pepper extract 148 mL and Schwiegemuttertod (Expiry end of 2012), due to very high capsaicin content.
  • Food Safety Recall (Germany): Netto Marken-Discount AG & Co KG recalls Premium smoked salmon (120g; all varieties; Best before 24/11/2011), because the product may contain Listeria.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1676): Listeria monocytogenes in chilled smoked salmon from Poland; distributed to Italy.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1678): Foreign body and mold infestation in lemon iced tea from Bulgaria; distributed to Greece.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1679): Aldicarb in pineapples from South Africa, via the Netherlands; distributed to Norway.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1681): Cadmium in frozen spinach from Belgium; distributed to Belgium, Germany and Greece.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1683): Listeria monocytogenes in chilled gorgonzola from Italy; distributed to France, Italy and the USA.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1686): Campylobacter spp. in frozen roasted skinless boneless chicken breasts from Thailand; distributed to France.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Outbreak Alert (India): More than 50 student nurses at the School of Nursing in Indore developed food poisoning after eating at the college mess hall. The students were hospitalized, and now are all out of danger.

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.

Another FDA and CooperVision Runaround

How hard is it for a company to release a complete list of lot numbers for a recalled product?

In CooperVision’s case, it’s very hard.

CooperVision’s recent expansion of its Avaira® Toric contact lens recall to include certain lots of Avaira® Sphere was accompanied by the launch of a recall site where consumers around the world could find out whether their Avaira® lenses were part of the recall. That’s fair.

But even in today’s world, many consumers, especially in less developed countries, DO NOT HAVE computers or internet access. It makes sense, therefore, for CooperVision also to publish a list of affected lot numbers. I went searching for that list, and found it on the website of Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (National Health Surveillance Agency).

When I randomly selected a few of the 16-digit lot numbers from that list and entered them into the CooperVision recall search engine for several different countries, I received the message “Your lenses are affected by the recall.” When I entered the same numbers into the CooperVision US recall search engine, the software cut off the last two digits of the 16-digit number and returned a message “Your lenses are not affected by the recall.”

I contacted CooperVision and requested a list of lot numbers recalled from the US market – and received the following message from Denise Powell, replying on behalf of the company:

The FDA will also be posting the lot numbers on their government site. The best thing to do is to direct consumers to the CooperVision website, http://www.coopervision.com/international-recall so they can enter in their specific lot number to see if they have lenses impacted by the recall. There is a photo illustration showing consumers where to find the lot numbers on the page.

Next, I contacted FDA spokeswoman Morgan Liscinsky, who replied with the following message:

We cannot provide advance notice of any information posted to the FDA website. You should obtain the most up-to-date list of lot numbers from CooperVision.

After this dizzying display of non-disclosure, I had a closer look at the 16-digit lot numbers and realized that the final four digits were date codes. Entering the 12-digit numbers from the Brazil list (sans date code) into the US search engine produced the message “Your lenses are affected by the recall.”

Therefore, anyone who wants to peruse what I believe to be the complete list of recalled Avaira® Sphere lots can access this list courtesy of the Brazilian government. Consumers in the USA should refer to the column heading “Packaged Lot” for the US 12-digit lot numbers. Consumers outside the USA should refer to the column heading “Captured Lot” for the international 16-digit lot numbers.

Anyone having difficulty accessing the Brazil web page is welcome to contact me directly and I’ll be happy to share a pdf file of the list by email.