Author: Phyllis Entis

Recalls and Alerts: June 14, 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: Price Chopper recalls Price Chopper Dark Chocolate Candy Bar, 2.25 oz., because the product contains undeclared raspberry filling.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns the Kellogg Company that a February 2011 inspection of the company’s August, Georgia cookie manufacturing facility revealed the presence of a persistent strain of Listeria monocytogenes and a number of significant violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for food manufacturers.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Gloria’s Pantry that a January/February 2011 inspection of the company’s food manufacturing facility revealed serious violations of FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food (CGMP) regulations. In addition, an environmental sample collected during the inspection found Listeria monocytogenes on a direct food contact surface.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited that a November 2010 inspection of the company’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility in Morelos, Mexico identified significant deviations from Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) for the manufacture of APIs.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Rolf’s Patisserie (Lincolnwood, IL) that a December 2010 through February 2011 inspection of the company’s food manufacturing facility revealed the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in the facility and the raw material tolling used in finished baked goods, in addition to FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for manufacturing, packing, or holding human food.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Euro International Foods, Inc. that a February/March 2011 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility revealed serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Columbine Specialty Products Inc. (Denver, CO) that a December 2010 inspection of the company’s manufacturing facility revealed serious violations of FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) in Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling, or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Prostar, Inc. (Farmington, CT) that a November 2010 inspection of the company’s facility revealed a number of violations of Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations in Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling, or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Nutro Laboratories, a div of NBTY, Inc. (South Plainfield, NJ) that an October 2010 inspection of the company’s dietary supplement manufacturing facility revealed violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) and FDA regulations pertaining to dietary supplements.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Newport Lobster Company, Inc. (Middletown, RI) that a November/December 2010 inspection of the company’s seafood processing establishment revealed serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Vita Pure, Inc. (Roselle, NJ) that a September 2010 inspection of the company’s facility revealed a number of serious violations of 21 CFR 111, Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) in Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling, or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Foremost Foods International, Inc. (Pomona, CA) that an October/November 2010 inspection of the company’s seafood importer establishment revealed serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns California Delights, Inc. (Newman, CA) that an August 2010 inspection of the company’s facility revealed significant violations of FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food (CGMP) regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Empresas Y-Nuina, Inc. (Canóvanas, PR) that a June/July 2010 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility revealed serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulation for foods.
  • Outbreak Alert: As of June 7th, 81 cases of Shigella have been reported in Northern Kentucky, according to the Northern Kentucky Health Department.
  • Outbreak Alert Update: The outbreak or outbreaks of E. coli illness that have been reported in Virginia and Northeast Tennessee involve E. coli O103, E. coli O169 and E. coli O157:H7.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Gagan Foods International Limited recalls Gagan Gulabjamun – Traditional Indian Sweet, 1-Kg, due to the presence of undeclared wheat and/or gluten.
  • Allergy Alert: PTI Foods recalls Ghar Se Apple Murabba, 800g (Code PTF09224), due to the presence of undeclared sulphites.
  • Allergy Alert: Kuo Hua Trading Company Ltd. (Markham, ON) recalls Farm House Pie brand Multi-Layer Black Sesame Pie (480g; all lot codes), due to the presence of undeclared peanuts.
  • Allergy Alert: JFP International (Canada) Inc., (Mississauga, ON) recalls UCC brand Sumiyaki 3 in 1 Coffee Mix (170g; Product of Taiwan; all codes), because the product contains undeclared milk.
  • Food Safety Alert (Tampering): The Toronto Police Service  warns that a two-inch sewing needle was found piercing into the spine of a package of Andy Boy Romaine lettuce hearts, purchased from the No Frills store in the Golden Mile Plaza, 1880 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto.

Europe

  • Allergy Alert (Finland): Midsona Finland Oy recalls Naturdiet Drink mix, wild strawberry and vanilla, because the product contains undeclared peanuts and sesame seed traces.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Seamaiden A/S recalls Seafood Mix Marinaramix (Best before 08/2012; product of Vietnam), because Salmonella was detected in the product.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Scan-Food recalls Salt-marinated (1.2%) frozen chicken (Product of Brazil; Best before 24.08.12), because Salmonella was detected in a sample of the product.
  • Food Recall (Denmark): Løgismose Dairy A/S recalls Løgismose Organic Drinking Yogurt, blackberry and vanilla (Best before 12.7.2011), because the beverage is contaminated with yeast.
  • Food Withdrawal (Denmark): Coop Trading A/S withdraws Änglamark Pine nuts (70g; all date codes), because they can cause temporary loss or change of taste.
  • Outbreak Alert (UK): An outbreak of norovirus has struck about 200 tourists and staff at the Bognor Regis holiday camp in Butlins, West Sussex.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0772): Oxamyl in galia melons from Morocco; distributed to Germany.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0773): Glass fragments in red wine in glass bottles from Germany; distributed to Germany and Greece.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Alerts (Hong Kong): The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has instructed the trade to stop the use and sale of “iceflake” supplied by a local frozen confection factory, after the product was found to contain DEHP. In addition, CFS has alerted the public that Uni-President Asparagus Juice (Manufactured by Uni-President Enterprises Corp; Expiry date August 1, 2011) may contain DINP, and should not be consumed.
  • Food Safety Enforcement Action (Abu Dhabi): Inspectors have detained 33 vehicles for violating rules and regulations governing the transportation of food items.
  • Food Safety Recall (PRC): Authorities in Guangdong Province have recalled and/or seized green tea powder manufactured by Jiangmen Goody’s Food Co., Ltd., after DEHP was found in samples of 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.

Kellogg Struggles With Listeria

The Kellogg Company is struggling with the “…presence of a persistent strain of L. monocytogenes…” in its Augusta, Georgia manufacturing facility, according to a warning letter released today by FDA.

Kellogg inherited the cookie manufacturing facility when it acquired Keebler in 2001. The company manufactures several brands and varieties of cookies at the facility, including Pecan Sandies, Chips Deluxe, Famous Amos, Pecan Swirls, Cinnamon Swirls, and Lemon and Raspberry Sandies. In 2009, Kellogg expanded the facility, adding Girl Scout cookies, Kashi, and a new Keebler cookie to the product mix.

In January 2010, FDA inspected the Augusta production facility and found Listeria monocytogenes in environmental swab samples collected during the inspection. More than one year later – in February 2011 – the identical strain of Listeria monocytogenes was still present in the manufacturing plant.

FDA found L. monocytogenes in fifteen environmental samples taken during the 2011 inspection. Seven of the positive samples were from direct food contact surfaces. While FDA acknowledges that the finished products may not support growth of L. monocytogenes, the presence of this persistent pathogen is a clear signal that the company’s cleaning and sanitation program is inadequate. According to the warning letter,

“The presence of a persistent strain of L. monocytogenes in your facility between January 2010 and February 2011 is significant in that it demonstrates that your cleaning and sanitation efforts were inadequate to remove this organism. We note that although your finished product cookies may not support the growth of L. monocytogenes, the positive environmental swabs are indicators of insanitary conditions in your facility and demonstrate a failure of cleaning and sanitation operations that may allow for contamination of foods with filth or pathogens.

Bacteria may enter and/or be transported through a food plant by a variety of routes that include, but are not limited to: roof leaks; the shoes of employees, contractors, and visitors; the wheels of fork lifts, pallet movers, and moveable equipment; soiled pallets; soiled raw material packaging; raw ingredients; and by various pest vectors. Once established on production area floors the organism can contaminate food and food-contact surfaces through either human or mechanical means.”

In addition to the persistent presence of L. monocytogenes in the production plant, FDA inspectors noted several other sanitary concerns during their inspection. These included:

  • Multiple pipes were wrapped with material/insulation that appeared to be saturated with condensation.
  • Pooling water due to drips from condensate was observed above mixers…, behind an unwelded splash guard; the pooled condensate was observed dripping directly into an open upright mixer bowl.
  • Pooling water was observed below the in-feed of spiral cooler…
  • Pooling water was observed at the in-feed of spiral cooler…; the pool had a build-up of product debris and a black substance.
  • Pooling water was observed in spiral cooler … on the southwest corner below the mesh conveyor.
  • Approximately twenty flies were observed exiting a drain located near spiral cooler … and making contact with food contact surfaces.
  • Approximately thirty flies were observed swarming in proximity of the flour sock of mixer …
  • Approximately eighty flies were observed after the back panel of mixer … was removed.

This is not Kellogg’s first brush with a Listeria monocytogenes contamination problem. An October 2009 inspection of the company’s Eggo Waffle production facility in Atlanta, GA found L. monocytogenes in the plant environment. The 2009 inspection was initiated after the Georgia Department of Agriculture found L. monocytogenes in an Eggo Buttermilk Waffle finished product sample during a routine inspection. The contamination was detected before the Eggo’s were shipped; however, as a precaution, Kellogg recalled two other products that were manufactured at the same facility as the Eggo’s.

The Eggo contamination is unrelated to the problems reported in the Augusta facility.

The most significant health risk at the Augusta plant is not the presence of Listeria monocytogenes – although that is bad enough. The real concern – as the FDA warning letter points out – is that the plant’s cleaning, sanitation and pest control programs are ineffective, and might allow other pathogens, such as Salmonella, to gain a foothold.

It’s easy for a company to become complacent, especially when its products are “shelf-stable.” Other companies, such as McNeil Consumer Healthcare (part of Johnson & Johnson), have paid dearly for their complacency.

Kellogg! Put your Keebler elves to work, and clean up your production environment.

Recalls and Alerts: June 13, 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

  • FDA Enforcement Action: FDA announces that a consent decree of condemnation, forfeiture, and permanent injunction has been filed against H&P Industries Inc., The Triad Group Inc., and three individuals that would prevent them from manufacturing and distributing products from their Hartland, Wis., facility, or any other location. Under the decree, the defendants cannot resume manufacturing and distributing drugs or medical devices until they establish an acceptable Quality Assurance and Quality Control program to ensure that all products manufactured in their facilities comply with federal standards for quality and have the identity, purity, potency and safety they are expected or are represented to possess.

Canada

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Recall/Import Ban (Hong Kong): Centre for Food Safety prohibits the import and orders a complete recall of DrinkaZine Energy Watt Sports Drink (Product of Taiwan; all batches), Chuang’s Square Cookies (Product of Taiwan), and Wei Lih Hand-Made Instant Noodle (Product of Taiwan; Roasted chicken flavour), because the products are contaminated with DEHP.
  • Dietary Supplement Safety Notification (EU #2011.0765): Unsuitable organoleptic characteristics (oxidation of ingredients) of high energy liquid medical nutrition product from the Netherlands; distributed to Ireland, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
  • Food Safety Alert (Vietnam): The Ministry of Health has requested the recall of Red Apple, Grape, and Litchi Syrups (Produced in Taiwan by Ye Yen Gen. Co. Ltd.) and Marshies vanilla, strawberry and chocolate candies (Imported from the Philippines), because the product contain DEHP.
  • Food Safety Alert (Taiwan): The Department of Health has suspended the importation of mung bean sprouts and soy bean sprouts from Germany. This is considered a precautionary gesture, as no sprouts have been imported into Taiwan from Germany in the last two years.
  • Food Safety Alert (PRC): China bans eight additional food ingredients, due to fears that they may be contaminated with DEHP.
  • Food Safety Enforcement Action (Taiwan): Taiwan prosecutors are seeking jail terms of up to 25 years for four people charged with selling banned chemicals to food processors.
  • Outbreak Alert (Nigeria): A suspected cholera outbreak has killed more than 30 people in Mubi South and Maiha (Adamawa State) and sent 200 more to hospital.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Food Safety Recall (New Zealand): Brinks Premium Ltd. recalls Brinks whole smoked bird (1Kg; Use by 14 July 11), because the ready-to-eat product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled smoked chickens were sold at Pak ‘n Save on Riccarton Road, Christchurch.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Outbreak Alert (Colombia): An isolated case of E. coli gastroenteritis has been reported in Monteria. It’s not yet known what strain of E. coli is responsible. Neither the patient nor any members of his family report having traveled to Europe.

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.