Author: Phyllis Entis

Recalls and Alerts: July 9, 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

  • Allergy Alert: Posh Bakery recalls Whole Foods Market Butter Mini Croissants and Chocolate Mini-Croissants due to an egg wash that was undeclared on the product label.
  • Consumer Product Safety Recall: Mizuno USA Inc. recalls Mizuno Supreme Series and Ballpark Pro baseball and softball gloves, because some of the gloves were found to contain a variety of molds.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: Albion Fisheries Ltd. (Vancouver, BC) recalls Mussel N/ Shell Honey Mussels (5 lb; Lot #181951), due to the presence of marine biotoxins. The recalled mussels were distributed to hotels, restaurants and institutional customers in Alberta and British Columbia.
  • Pharmaceutical Product Health Advisory: Health Canada reminds the public, particularly women of child-bearing age, of the risks to children whose mothers take a valproate drug, used to treat epilepsy, while pregnant. There is a rare, but well known risk of birth defects in children whose mothers took a valproate drug while pregnant. Also, some recent studies have found that children whose mothers took a valproate drug tend to score lower on cognitive tests than children whose mothers took other anti-epileptic medications.

Europe

  • Allergy Alert (Ireland and UK): The Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the UK Food Standards Agency announce the recall of Donegal Catch Limited Edition Fish Fillets in a Golden Breadcrumb (Best Before Sept. 2012; Batch Number L 1 066), because a packaging error has resulted in some packs containing product with undeclared milk.
  • Food Safety Recall (Belgium): AFSCA has ordered the recall of Nicola Spanish potatoes (2.5Kg bags), sold in Lidl stores, because these potatoes contain an elevated level of fosthiazate, a chemical used to control nematodes.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Ren-Diet recalls Fenugreek seeds (125g bags; Expiry 24 May 2012; Lot #28551), because the bags contain seeds from the same batches of fenugreek seeds from Egypt believed to be the source of E. coli O104:H4 outbreaks in Germany and France.
  • Food Safety Recall (Finland): Inex Partners Oy recalls Weibulls Mix seeds for sprouting (55/75g bags; Expiration date 09/30/2013 or 30/09/2014), because the product contains fenugreek seeds originating in Egypt.
  • Food Safety Recall (Netherlands): The Food Safety Authority announces a recall of Sperli brand fenugreek seeds or mixed seeds containing fenugreek bought at two garden centers, because the packages contain seeds potentially contaminated with EHEC (E. coli O104:H4).
  • Food Safety Recall Update (Italy): Carrefour recalls several production lots of Prosciutto cotto affettato di alta qualità alla brace 150g (please navigate to il fatto alimentare for affected production lot details), because the prosciutto may contain unacceptable levels of Listeria monocytogenes.
  • OTC Product Safety Recall (France): Laboratoire Pierre Fabre Medicament recalls Laboratoire Pierre Fabre Medicament Cliptol Gel, 50g (Topical preparation; Lot #G00123 to G00136, inclusive, G00139, G00142 and G00143), because of an error in the precautions for use labeling.
  • Outbreak Alert (Switzerland): Thirty-five military recruits are suspected to have been infected with norovirus and are receiving medical assistance in the infirmary.
  • Outbreak Alert Update (France): Four people remain hospitalized in Chu de Bordeaux after becoming infected with E. coli O104:H4. In all, about 10 people have been hospitalized during this outbreak due to either bloody diarrhea or hemolytic uremic syndrome.
  • Outbreak Alert Update (France): Steak Country brand frozen hamburger steaks sold in Lidl stores are now believed to have caused 19 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome across France – 18 of them in the Nord – Pas-de-Calais – Picardie regions. One case has been reported from Strasbourg.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0904): Salmonella Saint Paul in chilled duck breast pepper and pepper skewers from France; distributed to Belgium and France.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0905): Fosthiazate in nicola potatoes from Spain; distributed to Belgium.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0906): Diarrhoeic shellfish poisoning toxins in whole queen scallops from the UK; distributed to Spain and the United Kingdom.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0907): High Enterobacteriaceae count in vanilla ice cream from Italy; distributed to Hungary, Italy and Sweden.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0908): Enterococcus in bottled natural mineral water from Italy; distributed to Germany.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Alert (PRC): Authorities have halted the sale of 31 brands of water after they failed safety standard tests, including excessively high total bacterial or coliform counts.
  • Food Safety Enforcement Notice (Japan): The Tottori Prefectural Government will ban restaurants and butchers from serving or selling raw beef liver after recent deadly food poisoning cases involving raw beef served at Korean-style barbecue restaurants.
  • Food Safety Alert (Japan): More than six times the legal limit of radioactive caesium has been found in beef from Fukushima prefecture. The meat was sampled from one of 11 cows shipped to Tokyo.
  • Outbreak Alert (PRC): Forty-two kindergarteners in Zhejiang Province have been sickened in an alleged case of food poisoning at an unlicensed kindergarten.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Water Safety Alert (New Zealand): Auckland Council has identified two toxic sea slugs on rocks at Matiatia Bay on Waiheke Island. Beachgoers should avoid touching or handling sea slugs at beaches across the Auckland region. Toxic sea slugs killed several dogs on beaches of Auckland’s North Shore during the past two winters.
  • Weight Loss Product Safety Alert (Australia): The Therapeutic Goods Administration warns the public that OxyELITE Pro capsules – marketed as having super weightloss properties – contains therapeutic quantities of the prohibited prescription-only substanct, Yohimbine. In Australia, supply of OxyELITE Pro capsules is illegal.

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.

Note to Anne: Home-Sprouting Seeds Is Not Safe Alternative

Whenever I speak with my husband’s 80-something Auntie Anne, I know that the subject will eventually turn to recipes and food safety. From grav lax to ganache, I’m her “go-to” gal. The last time we spoke, the topic was sprouts.

“I understand,” Anne said, “that sprouts in the supermarket are risky, and I don’t buy them anymore. But why can’t I buy the seeds at a health food store and sprout them myself?”

I explained that the seeds she finds in the health food store might be contaminated with Salmonella or E. coli.

“Then why,” she asked, ” can people eat the seeds without becoming sick?”

Putting aside the question as to how many people actually eat raw alfalfa seeds, arugula seeds, or mung beans, Anne’s question was a reasonable one. And the answer is in the arithmetic.

Electron microscope image of E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain, courtesy of Robert Koch Institute

When a pathogenic microbe such as Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 or E. coli O104:H4 is found in a batch of seeds, the level of contamination is typically very low. Researchers at the California Department of Health Services reported in 2001 (Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 64, No. 8, 2001, Pages 1240–1243) that they found Salmonella in contaminated batches of alfalfa seeds at levels as low as 0.07 per 100g – just a single live Salmonella in 3.15 pounds (1.4Kg) of seeds – and as high as 1.8 per 100g (or about one live Salmonella in 2 ounces of seeds).

If the level of pathogens in/on contaminated seeds is so low, why are sprouts such a problem? It’s all in the way the sprouts are produced.

  • Typical growing conditions for sprouts:- Moist, warm temperatures (typically, 70-80ºF)
  • Typical growing conditions for Salmonella and E. coli:- Moist, warm temperatures (optimally, 95-100ºF, but grow well in the 70-80ºF range)

And that’s the problem. The conditions required for sprouting seeds also encourage abundant growth of bacteria, including Salmonella and E. coli. A single Salmonella or E. coli cell can produce more than one million offspring during the first 10 hours of sprouting.

This risk is not just theoretical. Some of the German outbreak victims ate raw sprouts that they produced at home.

Another question I have been asked is how long pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli can survive on or in seeds used for sprouting. The answer, in a word, is “years.”

The same study that documented the number of Salmonella present in the alfalfa seeds also mentioned that Salmonella had remained viable in the seeds after two years of storage at room temperature in the dark.

E. coli O157:H7 is just as rugged. In 1995, two Japanese sprouting facilities purchased radish seeds from the same US distributor. Between May and December 1996, more than 9,400 people in Japan became infected with a single outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7, and 12 people died. Most of the outbreak victims were school children. The source of the infection was traced to radish sprouts produced in one of the two Japanese sprouting facilities.

Eight months later, in 1997, Japanese health authorities investigated another spurt of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses. The second series of illnesses was traced to radish sprouts produced in the second Japanese sprouting facility. The outbreak strain was identical to the 1996 outbreak strain. Clearly, this strain of E. coli O157:H7 survived on or in the US-produced radish seeds for more than a year.

It’s too soon for anyone to have determined the long-term survival of E. coli O104:H4; however, I would be astonished if it was very different from the others.

To summarize:

  1. The ideal conditions for sprouting seeds and for growing bacteria overlap.
  2. Bacteria will multiply into the millions per gram during the sprouting process.
  3. Salmonella and E. coli can survive for 1-2 years – or longer – on or inside the dry seeds.

Finally, my advice to Auntie Anne – and to anyone else who is interested: Do not eat raw sprouts.

Botulism Bites!

From time to time, my daily Recalls and Alerts post includes a warning from the Québec (Canada) Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that a “preserved” food – typically a sauce or soup – should not be consumed, because it was improperly processed or stored, and could present a risk of botulism.

This risk is not far-fetched. CDC has just released the following short report on two recent cases of botulism in the USA. Please navigate to the full report for a list of the authors and the background literature.

Notes from the Field: Botulism Caused by Consumption of Commercially Produced Potato Soups Stored Improperly — Ohio and Georgia, 2011

In January and April 2011, CDC provided antitoxin for treatment of two persons with toxin type A botulism associated with consumption of potato soup produced by two companies. On January 28, 2011, an Ohio resident, aged 29 years, was hospitalized after 5 days of progressive dizziness, blurred vision, dysphagia, and difficulty breathing. The patient required mechanical ventilation and botulism antitoxin. On January 18, he had tasted potato soup from a bulging plastic container, noted a bad taste, and discarded the remainder. The soup had been purchased on December 7, 2010, from the refrigerated section of a local grocer, but it had been kept unrefrigerated for 42 days. He was hospitalized for 57 days and then was transferred with residual weakness to a rehabilitation facility.

On April 8, 2011, a Georgia resident, aged 41 years, was hospitalized after 4 days of progressive dizziness and dysphagia. The patient developed respiratory distress, required mechanical ventilation, and was treated with botulism antitoxin. On April 3, she had tasted potato soup purchased from a local grocer, noted a sour taste, and discarded the remainder. The soup, stored in a plastic container labeled “keep refrigerated” in letters 1/8 inch tall, had been purchased on March 16, but had been left unrefrigerated for 18 days. She was hospitalized for 16 days and then was transferred with residual weakness to a rehabilitation facility.

Botulism is caused by a paralyzing toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. C. botulinum spores are present in soil and can be found on raw produce, especially potatoes and other root vegetables (1). If a low-acid food such as potato soup is stored unrefrigerated in an anaerobic environment (e.g., a sealed container), without a barrier to bacterial growth, spores can germinate, resulting in bacterial growth and botulinum toxin production (2). Because heating food to a temperature of 185°F (85°C) for 5 minutes inactivates the toxin, proper preparation also is an important safeguard (3).

Improper storage has been documented in previous botulism outbreaks associated with commercially produced, chilled foods. Since 1975, 19 U.S. botulism cases were linked to six such products. Demand for prepared, chilled foods is increasing (4). Labels advising refrigeration might be ignored or not noticed, and do not warn about the danger of consuming unrefrigerated food. The Food and Drug Administration is reexamining labeling requirements. Storage at an improper temperature also can occur before products reach consumers (5). To inhibit the growth of C. botulinum and other microbes, an acidifying agent or other microbial inhibitor, such as citric or phosphoric acid, can be added to prepared, chilled foods before they are sealed in a package. This procedure was used successfully to reduce the danger of botulism from commercial garlic-in-oil products after two outbreaks (6).

Most people think of botulism as a home-canning risk. It’s rare that a commercial “preserved” product is the source of a case of botulism.

In the two cases just published by CDC, the foods – even though displayed in a refrigerated case and/or labeled “keep refrigerated” – the consumer stored their containers of potato soup unrefrigerated for weeks. Both consumers compounded their storage error by tasting the cold soup, even though the container was bulging in one instance.

This is one incident that can be chalked up strictly to the carelessness of a couple of complacent consumers.