Category: allergy

Recalls and Alerts: November 8, 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: Whittington’s Jerky, Inc. (Johnson City, TX) recalls Whittington’s Original Beef Jerky (2-oz & 4-oz pkgs; Est 21257; Produced Oct 31, 2011) after routine USDA testing revealed Salmonella in a sample. The recalled Jerky was distributed to convenience stores in West Texas and also sold at the company’s retail operation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Frank Harter & Sons (Cincinnati, OH) that a July/July 2011 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility revealed serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Alabama Sunshine, Inc. (Fayette, AL) that a July 2011 inspection of the company’s facility revealed significant deviations from the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and from regulations relating to the processing of acidified foods, causing the companies acidified products to be adulterated and in violation of the Act, in that they were prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Onorato & Company, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA) that an August 2011 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility revealed serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Fremont Farms L.C. (Oskaloosa, IA) that a June 2011 inspection of the company’s shell egg production facility revealed serious violations of the Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs During Production, Storage, and Transportation regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Bacalao Brothers, Inc. dba New England Fish Market (Jensen Beach, FL) that a July 2011 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility revealed serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods.
  • Outbreak Alert Update: The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reports 30 confirmed E. coli O157:H7 cases connected to the St. Louis area outbreak. None of the 55 food samples tested so far have yielded E. coli. The source of the outbreak remains unknown.
  • Outbreak Alert Update: The North Carolina Division of Public Health reports twelve confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 connected to the North Carolina State Fair outbreak; 16 cases remain under investigation. The 28 cases were reported from the following counties: Wake (13), Sampson (6), Cleveland (1), Durham (2), Johnston (1), Lenoir (1), Orange (2) and Wilson (2).

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Grant Chocolatier recalls Grant Chocolatier Dark Chocolate Hallowe’en Figures (variable weight; no codes) due to the presence of undeclared milk.
  • Allergy Alert: Salle Châtelaine (Saint-Hyacinthe, QC) recalls Lasagna and Spaghetti Sauce (all lots), due to the presence of undeclared soy (both products) and wheat (spaghetti sauce only).
  • Food Safety Recall: Cie 2 Ameriks Inc. recalls Gogo Quinoa Multigrains Crunchy Muesli (300g; Code L130546; UPC 8 96899 00017 3), due to the presence of insect fragments.

Europe

  • Food Withdrawal (Finland): Unilever withdraws Viennatta Choco Nut ice cream cake (350g/650ml; Best before 01.056.2013; Batch code L1166CU020 and L1166DC020), because the products are missing Finnish and Swedish labels.
  • Outbreak Alert Update (Denmark): An outbreak of 40 illnesses was traced to imported datterino tomatoes contaminated with Salmonella Strathcona, a serotype that was not previously detected in Denmark. The tomatoes were imported from southern Italy and sold primarily by the Rema 1000 supermarket chain. The source of the outbreak was determined by patient interviews and a review of electronic purchase records from the supermarket chain.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Outbreak Alert (Hong Kong ex. Thailand): The Centre for Health Protection is investigating a food poisoning outbreak involving 19 members of a tour group who visited Phuket, Thailand from November 1 to 5. One of the 19 people was hospitalized after returning to Hong Kong.
  • Outbreak Alert (Taiwan ex. Thailand): The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control has confirmed shigellosis in three travelers returning from Thailand. All three became ill after consuming raw fish during their stay in Thailand.

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 7, 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 Recall: Price Chopper recalls Price Chopper Apple Pie (8-inch; Purchased Oct 3 – Nov 3) and Price Chopper Pumpkin Pie (8-inch; Purchased Oct 3 – Nov 3), because the products are not up to quality standards.
  • Outbreak Alert: Thirty-five people fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea a day after eating lunch last week in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Pyle Center’s Alumni Lounge, according to an item in the Wisconsin State Journal.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: All The Best Fine Foods recalls its own brand of Maple Pecans (150g; UPC 20002954; Lot code 119061), due to the presence of undeclared wheat. As a result of a packaging error, the packages contain Maple Shortbread instead of Maple Pecans. The recalled product was distributed nationally.

Europe

  • Allergy Alert (Netherlands): Kruidvat and Prijsmepper recall Kinder Joy Chocolate Eggs (Bar code 80310891), because the product contains undeclared nuts.
  • Food Alert (Ireland): Diageo Ireland advises that two batches of Guinness 568ml brown crowned bottles (Lot codes L1277GD001 and L1290GD001) have been mislabelled. The labels carry incorrect UK units of alcohol (labeled as 1.8, whereas the labels should read 2.4). The product poses no health risk, but consumers may be mislead as to the amount of alcohol consumed.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1574): Escherichia coli in clams from Turkey; distributed to Greece.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1575): Listeria monocytogenes in smoked rainbow trout from Greece; distributed to the Netherlands.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1576): Yeast in remoulade sauce from Denmark; distributed to Sweden.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1577): Histamine in frozen sardine fillets from Tunisia; distributed to Italy.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1578): Escherichia coli in frozen mechanically separated poultry meat from Poland; distributed to Romania.
  • Animal Feed Safety Notification (EU #2011.1579): Salmonella typhimurium in fish feed from Spain; distributed to Italy.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1580): Salmonella spp. in paan leaves from Bangladesh; distributed to the United Kingdom.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1581): Methomyl in fresh mint from Israel; distributed to the Czech Republic.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.1583): Cadmium in chilled tiger prawns from Senegal; distributed to Germany.

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 5, 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: Rice-A-Roni recalls Rice-A-Roni Rice Pilaf (10.8-oz family-size boxes; Best before JUL 30 12 B; UPC ending in 43004), because the product contains undeclared milk.
  • Food Safety Recall: Quirch Foods Co. (Miami, FL) recalls Leslie Leger and Sons Ltd. brand Salted Smoked Split Herring (Produced by Leslie Leger and Sons Ltd., Cap Pele, NB, Canada; all lots) after a routine sample collected at a store by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets found the product to be uneviscerated and, therefore, at risk of Clostridium botulinum contamination. The product was supplied to supermarkets and distributors in Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and Nassau BF, and also was sold in New York State.
  • Food Safety Recall: Badia Spices, Inc. recalls approximately 3,800 lbs of Pine Nuts (Imported from Turkey; 1-oz small plastic bags, Lot #84666; 2-oz small PET bottles, Lot #83184 and 85442), because the pine nuts may be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis. The recalled pine nuts were sold between Jone 2011 and October 2011 in retail stores – including Publix supermarkets – in Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey.
  • Food Safety Recall/Alert: FDA warns the public not to consume Turkish Pine Nuts distributed by Sunrise Commodities (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), after FDA tests confirm the presence of Salmonella on the product. Test are underway to determine whether the Salmonella matches the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis that has sickened at least 42 people in 5 states. Sunrise Commodities has recalled four lots of implicated product (Warehouse Lot 27963, ID Code PO#: 50165; Warehouse Lot 29628, ID Code PO#: 50558; Warehouse Lot 27713, ID Code PO#: 49595; and Warehouse Lot 27427, ID Code PO#: 50032). The pine nuts were distributed in bulk to various vendors in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Canada.
  • Food Safety Alert: FDA warns consumers not to eat any Bio Gaudiano brand Organic Olives Stuffed with Almonds. The imported olives, which have been recalled in the USA by Pure Italian LLC (Watertown, MA), were responsible for two cases of botulism in Finland. Some of the olives may have been sold at SoWa farmers market (South End, MA). In addition, Foodies Fresh Market (Boston, MA), Russo’s (Watertown, MA), and Fresh Choice Supermarket (Framingham, MA) may have repackaged and resold the olives in containers that do not carry the Bio Gaudiano name.
  • Food Safety/Outbreak Alert: FDA warns consumers not to eat ASSI brand Individually Quick Frozen Oyster (shucked; 3-lb bags; Better if Used by date 2013.02.232; packed by Central Fisheries Co. Ltd; Shucked date 2011.02.24; Lot #C-110223), after the oysters were found to be contaminated with Norovirus genotypes I and II. Three patrons of a Washington state restaurant became ill with norovirus gastroenteritis after eating the oysters. Korean Farms (Santa Fe Springs, CA) has recalled the frozen oyster meat. The recalled product was shipped to Washington, California, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho and Utah.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: 3903052 Canada Inc. (Boisbriand, QC) recalls Tifco brand Queso Panela Latino Cheese (420g, Lot #102 43, Best before 9 DEC 2011; 1.38kg, Lot #103 43; Best before 9 DEC 2011), because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled cheese was distributed in Ontario.
  • Food Safety Recall: David Roberts Food Corporation (Mississauga, ON) recalls certain Sysco brand, David Roberts brand, and unbranded imported pine nuts (Lot 1323), because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled pine nuts were distributed to food service accounts in Ontario and sold at the David Roberts Food Corporation retail store in Mississauga, ON.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Food Safety Recall: Quirch Foods Co. (Miami, FL) recalls Leslie Leger and Sons Ltd. brand Salted Smoked Split Herring (Produced by Leslie Leger and Sons Ltd., Cap Pele, NB, Canada; all lots) after a routine sample collected at a store by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets found the product to be uneviscerated and, therefore, at risk ofClostridium botulinum contamination. The product was supplied to supermarkets and distributors in Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and Nassau BF, and also was sold in New York State.

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.