Category: allergy

Recalls and Alerts: June 2, 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: Azar Nut Company recalls Azar Mountain Trail Mix (Item #9613896, 2/5#; Date codes 10256, 10284, 10313, 10320, 10342, 10357, 11017, 11031, 11066, 11089, 11109, 11123, 11138, and 11144), because the product may contain undeclared milk. The recalled trail mix was distributed through various food service distributors in Florida, Montana, Colorado, California, Oregon, Idaho, Arkansas, and Texas.
  • Food Safety Recall: Michel and Charles LeBlanc Fisheries (Cap-Pele, New Brunswick, Canada) recalls Michel and Charles LeBlanc Brand Smoked Split Herring (Production dates January 4, 2011 and April 14, 2011) because the product was found to be uneviscerated. The sale of uneviscerated or incompletely eviscerated fish is prohibited under New York State Agriculture and Markets regulations because Clostridium botulinum spores are more likely to be concentrated in the viscera than any other portion of the fish. The recalled products were distributed in Brooklyn and Bronx, New York.
  • Food Safety Withdrawal: California-based 99 Ranch Market has removed two kinds of Taiwanese beverages from its 35 stores, because the products may be contaminated with DEHP.
  • Food Safety Enforcement Action: FDA seeks permanent injunction against BCS African Wholesale Food Supply LLC (Brooklyn Park, MN) and its principal officers. The requested injunction would force defendants to stop importing, processing, and selling seafood products that can put consumers at risk for botulism or other food safety hazards.
  • Shellfish Growing Area Pollution Alert: Nine of Washington State’s commercial shellfish growing areas are threatened with closure this year due to pollution. The affected growing areas, by county, are: Grays Harbor (Pacific coast), Jefferson (Port Townsend), Kitsap (Dyes Inlet), Mason (Pickering Passage), Pacific (Naselle River), Pierce (Burley Lagoon, Filucy Bay), Skagit (Padilla Bay), and Snohomish (South Skagit Bay).
  • Outbreak Alert: Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) is investigating an increase in cases of shigellosis originating in Lauderdale County.
  • Outbreak Alert: Public health authorities in Amarillo, TX are warning residents that a “cluster” of seven cases of E. coli infections – all in children, mostly under five years of age – have been reported in Amarillo in the last few days. Four of the infected children have been hospitalized.

Canada

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Recall (Hong Kong): The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has ordered a recall of Sheng Shiang Jen Konjac Coconut Jelly, Taro Flavour (Manufactured in Taiwan by Triko Foods Co., Ltd.; all batches; all sizes), after DEHP was detected in a sample of the product. CFS also has announced a prohibition on the importation and supply of the product.
  • Food Safety Recall (Singapore): Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) orders the recall of Jin Guo Wan Peach Concentrate Juice (manufactured in Taiwan) after a sample fails a test for DEPH. AVA also has suspended the importation of Jin Guo Wan brand of fruit juice concentrates. These products are packaged in bulk and used as an ingredient for bubble tea.
  • Food Safety Alert (Taiwan): The Taiwan FDA has published a list of ingredients (available for download) that were found to be contaminated with DEHP. Please navigate to the Taiwan FDA site for a link to the file.
  • Food Safety Recall (Vietnam): On orders from the Vietnam Food Administration, New Choice Foods Company recalls products containing DEHP (imported from Triko Foods Co. Ltd., Taiwan).
  • Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Kai Yuen Pharmaceutical Company recalls Well Tab (Manufactured in Taiwan by China Chem and Pharm Company, Limited), and Marching Pharmaceutical Limited recalls five Vitamin C and dietary supplement products (manufactured in Hong Kong using an ingredient from Taiwan that may contain DEHP) because the recalled products may contain DEHP.

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.

Recalls and Alerts: June 1, 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: C.W. Hendrix Farms, Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) recalls fresh cucumbers distributed from its facility between May 6 and May 13, 2011, because the cucumbers may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled produce was distributed to retailers (including Giant Eagle) and for food service distribution.
  • Food Safety Advisory (Washington): The Department of Health has issued a fish consumption advisory for carp from the lower part of the Okanogan River. Health officials recommend that people who fish the lower Okanogan limit their carp intake to one meal per month, due to the presence of harmful chemical contaminants in that part of the river.
  • Outbreak Alert (Canada/Alaska): CDC reports that 113 passengers (5.5%) and 12 crew members (1.4%) aboard the Sea Princess (Princess Cruises) are reported to have suffered vomiting and diarrhea during the May 20-30, 2011 cruise. Environmental Health officers with CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program boarded the ship on its arrival in Juneau, Alaska on May 24th to conduct a health assessment. Stool samples from ill passengers have been submitted to Health Canada labs. The cause of the outbreak has not yet been established.
  • Outbreak Alert (Alaska): CDC reports that 104 passengers (5.1%) and 9 crew members (0.98%) aboard the Celebrity Millennium (Celebrity Cruises) are reported to have suffered vomiting and diarrhea during the May 20-27, 2011 Alaska cruise.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: Kuo Hua Trading Company Ltd. recalls certain Possmei brand and Trojan brand juices and jams, because the products may contain the chemical Di-Ethyl Hexyl Phthalate (DEHP). The recalled products were distributed to retailers, and to food service operations (hotel/restaurant/institution) in British Columbia and Ontario.
  • Food Safety Recall: Tasty Enterprises recalls Tasty brand syrups, because the products may contain DEHP. The recalled products were distributed to hotels, restaurants and institutions in Ontario.
  • Food Safety Recall: KO & C Enterprises Ltd. recalls Sheng Hsiang Jen brand Fruit Jelly Aloe Vera and Fruit Jelly assorted, because the products may contain DEHP. The recalled items were distributed to retailers in Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba.
  • Food Safety Recall: Sysco Central Ontario, Inc. recalls C.W. Hendrix Farms, Inc. Cucumber – Super Select (24-count; code #141 6 126 47935141 9 129 47975), because the produce may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled cucumbers, which were imported from Florida, were distributed to hotels, restaurants and institutions in Ontario
  • Food Safety Recall: Subzi Mandi Cash & Carry recalls A-One Products Pan Gilori, 75g due to the presence of unspecified non-permitted food ingredients. The recalled products were sold in retail stores in Ontario.

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Recall (Taiwan): The Ministry of Health has issued a “stop sale” order for sport drinks, fruit juices, tea drinks, fruit jam/fruit nectar/fruit jelly, and food in tablet, capsule or powder form that might be contaminated with the carcinogenic plasticizer DEHP, and has ordered a recall of all affected products.
  • Outbreak Alert (Hong Kong): The Centre for Health Protection is investigating four suspected cases of ciguatoxin poisoning cases affecting nine people who have consumed coral reef fish.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Food Safety Advisory Update (New Zealand): Following an investigation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food has cleared Kiaora New Zealand, marketers of Heitiki infant formula, of any food safety and export regulations concerns.

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.

Recalls and Alerts: May 31, 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: Irish Hills Meat Company of Michigan (Tipton, MI) recalls 900 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The recalled  ground beef was produced on May 23 and May 26, and shipped to restaurants in Michigan.
  • Food Safety Recall: Stewart’s Shops (Saratoga Springs, NY) recalls 19 ice cream items manufactured in their Greenfield, NY facility since May 19, 2011, due to an equipment failure that may have resulted in the introduction of foreign material into the ice cream. The recalled products – packed in cartons or boxes bearing Plant #36-3918 -were distributed to Stewart’s Shops in New York and southern Vermont.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Reed’s Inc. (Los Angeles, CA) that an October/November inspection of the company’s carbonated beverage and human dietary supplement manufacturing facility revealed significant violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) in Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling, or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements regulations, causing the Reed’s Nausea Relief dietary supplement products manufactured in your facility to be adulterated, in that the dietary supplements have been prepared, packed, or held under conditions that do not meet current good manufacturing practice regulations for dietary supplements.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Family Fresh Pack, LLC (Belleville, WI) that a December 2010/January 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 (cGMP) regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Natural Choice Distribution Company (Oakland, CA) that a February 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 (cGMP) regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Manolo and Son, LLC (Alexandria, VA) that a March 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 Contes Pasta Company, Inc. (Vineland, NJ) that a January/February 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 (cGMP) regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Nuvonyx, Inc. DBA Real Aloe, Inc. and U.S. Aloe (Carlsbad, CA) that October 2010 and  January 2011 inspections of the company’s facility revealed significant violations of Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements (CGMP) regulations.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Import Food Wholesale (St. Paul, MN) that a November 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.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Country Maid, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI) that a December 2010 inspection of the company’s food 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.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Dawn’s Foods, Inc. (Portage, WI) that a February 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 (cGMP) regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns ADAO, Inc. (Denver, CO) that a December 2010 inspection of the company’s food manufacturing facility revealed serious violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations in manufacturing, packing, or holding of human food, causing the products manufactured in the Denver facility to be adulterated, in that they were prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been contaminated with filth, or whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Tiny Greens (Urbana, IL) that a December 2010-January 2011 inspection of the company’s sprouting facility revealed conditions and practices that are likely to have contaminated the products, causing the sprouts to be adulterated, in that they were packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to health. Sprouts produced by Tiny Greens were responsible for an outbreak of Salmonella gastroenteritis that sickened 140 people in 26 states and the District of Columbia between November 2010 and February 2011.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Valley Wholesale Produce and Seafood (Winchester, VA) that a March 2011 inspection of the company’s produce and seafood warehouse revealed serious violations of the seafood HACCP regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Great Oriental Food Products Co., Ltd. (Mae Sod, Thailand) that a January 2011 inspection of the company’s low-acid canned food facility revealed serious deviations from the low-acid canned food regulations.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Guangxi Jisheng Foods Inc. (Hengxian, China) that a January 2011 inspection of the company’s low-acid canned food facility revealed serious deviations from the low-acid canned food regulations.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Franklin Foods, Inc. (Delray Beach, FL) that a September/October inspection of the company’s food processing facility located in Enosburg Falls, Vermont revealed serious violations of the seafood HACCP regulation, regarding the manufacturing of smoked salmon cream cheese.

Canada

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall (Norway): Kjøttvirksomheten Kuraas AS (Narvik) has withdrawn a number of meat products after Salmonella was detected in a sample of pork. Please see the official withdrawal notice for distribution details on the seven tons products of withdrawn pork and beef products.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0710): Mercury in frozen red snapper fillets from Madagascar; distributed to France.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0711): Dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorobiphenyls in frozen cooked crabs from Ireland; distributed to France.
  • Outbreak Alert (Russia): Twenty-six children, aged 10 to 13 years, have been hospitalized, and an additional 45 people isolated after the attendees at Sail camp (near Novgorod) were stricken by what is believed to be food poisoning.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

Australia and New Zealand

  • Food Safety Alert (New Zealand): The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has opened an investigation into Kaiora New Zealand International, a company that is allegedly selling and exporting Heitiki infant formula. The investigation will focus on food safety concerns, as well as possible breaches of requirements such as labeling, advertising, and claims.
  • Shellfish Safety Advisory (New Zealand): Upper Whangarei Harbour has been closed for gathering shellfish until July 2nd, after high levels of norovirus were found in Whangarei wastewater and the upper harbour during a May 2nd storm.

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.