Author: Phyllis Entis

Recalls and Alerts: November 16, 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.

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United States

  • Food Safety Recall/Outbreak Alert: Raw milk products produced by Organic Pastures (Fresno County, CA) are the subject of a statewide recall and quarantine order, after exposure to the dairy’s raw milk was linked epidemiologically to five cases of E. coli O157:H7 in the state. All five victims were children; three were hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome. The quarantine and recall cover all Organic Pastures raw dairy products, except for cheese that has been aged a minimum of 60 days.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: Ginger Beef Choice Ltd (Est 615; Calgary, AB)  recalls Ginger Beef Choice brand Special Combo (1kg pkgs; UPC 6 65075 22980 2; Best before 2011 NOV 28), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled ready-to-eat product was distributed to Costco stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
  • Food Safety Recall: 3903052 Canada Inc. recalls Fromagerie Marie Kadé Halloom Mix Maison – Semi-firm Unripened Cheese (2, 8 & 10-kg) Best before dates from November 3 to November 8, 2011 inclusive; UPC 7 78546 18002 8), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled cheese was distributed to the hotel/restaurant/institutional sector in Quebec.
  • Contact Lens Safety Recall: CooperVision expands its earlier international recall of contact lenses to include both Encore 100 Toric and Encore 100 Sphere brands. Health Canada is working with the company to identify which products on the Canadian market are affected by the recall. The company has published an international web page where consumers can enter the lot number on their packages to determine whether their contact lenses are affected by the recall.

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Dietary Supplement Safety Alert (Hong Kong): The Department of Health warns the public not to by or consume the slimming product Omine 15, after tests carried out on the product uncover the presence of the banned drug substance sibutramine.
  • Outbreak Alert (Indonesia): As many as one half of the national teams competing at the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia are affected with food poisoning. The outbreak of diarrhea has hit athletes from Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, among others. The outbreak appears to be linked to food consumed at the dining room of the athlete’s village. The food is supplied by the Aryaduta Hotel in Palembang.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Food Safety Recall (Australia): Ayers Rock Trading Pty Ltd. recalls Lotus Brand Tapioca Chips (275g clear plastic bag with yellow label; Product of Malaysia; Expiry 01.12.12), due to higher than usual levels of naturally occurring cyanide in the ingredient cassava. The product was sold through Asian grocery stores in New South Wales.
  • Personal Care Product Safety Recall (New Zealand): Colgate-Palmolive Limited (NZ) recalls Savacol Antiseptic Mouth and Throat Rinse Alcohol Free (all batches) because some of the batches do not fully comply with the microbial quality standards for the product.

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.

Raw Milk Products Implicated In E. coli O157:H7 Illnesses

Raw milk products from Organic Pastures (Fresno County, CA) are the probable source of five California cases of E. coli O157:H7 according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. All five children became infected with the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 between August and October; three of the children were hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome.

The five children live in four different California counties – Contra Costa, Kings, Sacramento and San Diego. While E. coli O157:H7 has not been recovered from lab samples of the company’s raw milk, the only food exposure they have in common is raw milk from the Organic Pastures dairy.

The California Department of Public Health has ordered a statewide recall of all raw milk products from Organic Pastures, except for cheese that has been aged a minimum of 60 days – the aging process is supposed to allow time for pathogens to die. In addition, Organic Pastures has been placed under a quarantine order; until further notice, the company may not produce raw milk products – including raw butter, raw cream, raw colostrum and Qephor – for the retail market.

This is the second time that raw milk products from Organic Pastures have been implicated in an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses. In 2006, six children became infected with the pathogen after consuming raw milk or raw colostrum produced by Organic Pastures. On that occasion, too, the pathogen was not recovered from milk samples; however, the epidemiological evidence linking the illness to raw milk and colostrum from the dairy was strong.

State food safety experts are carrying out a complete inspection of the Organic Pastures operations. The present quarantine will not be lifted until the facility has been found to meet all sanitation requirements under state law and until lab tests confirm that the dairy’s raw milk products are in compliance with regulatory standards.

Individuals who have consumed raw milk products from Organic Pastures and who develop symptoms of E. coli O157:H7 infections – including abdominal cramps and diarrhea which is often bloody – should seek immediate medical attention. Young children and the elderly who become infected with this pathogen are at risk of developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening complication that is associated with this pathogen.

CooperVision Expands Contact Lens Recall

CooperVision’s contact lens recall has expanded to include a second Avaira® product. The expanded worldwide recall affects 4.9 million Avaira® Sphere contact lenses that may be contaminated with silicone oil residue. FDA is aware of the expanded recall.

The presence of silicone oil residue on the contact lenses “… may cause hazy vision or discomfort, severe eye pain or eye injuries requiring medical treatment,” according to the company’s news release.

In August 2011, CooperVision quietly recalled a limited number of production lots of Avaira® Toric contact lenses due to a “residue” problem. The recall, which was expanded in late September to include additional production lots, affected consumers in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Spain, Germany and Italy.

The Avaira® Toric recall was not widely publicized via a US Food and Drug Administration Class I recall notice until October 14th, after repeated reports were published by eFoodAlert and after MSNBC.com carried an October 11th article by JoNel Aleccia.

Today’s recall announcement affects consumers in several countries worldwide. CooperVision will launch a web site on November 16th where Avaira® users will be able to determine whether their lenses are affected by the recall.

Although consumers have complained to FDA and to eFoodAlert about problems with other CooperVision contact lens brands – most notably, ProClear and Frequency 55 contact lenses – only Avaira lenses are included in the expanded recall. Silicone oil is not used in the manufacturing process for these other brands.

As of late October, FDA received at least 40 Adverse Event Reports on various CooperVision contact lenses. Twenty-three of the reports complained about Avaira® lenses, including two that specifically mentioned Avaira Sphere. Ten consumers cited problems with ProClear lenses, and three mentioned Frequency 55 Toric contact lenses. As of today (November 15th) eFoodAlert has received 44 complaints from wearers of CooperVision contact lenses, including Avaira, ProClear and Frequency 55.

Notwithstanding this complaint pattern, I was informed last month by Morgan Liscinsky of FDA that the agency was satisfied with CooperVision’s performance. “The FDA,” Liscinsky told me on October 27th, “does not have any information at this time that would indicate that this voluntary recall would be expanded to include other CooperVision contact lens brands.”

For links to prior eFoodAlert articles relating to the CooperVision contact lens recalls, please click on the Toric Recalls tab at the top of the page. I’ll be updating this list to include more information on the latest recall as additional details become available.