Category: botulism

Recalls and Alerts: June 20, 2012

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: Euphoria Fancy Food Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) recalls Dried Bream (Product of Russia; 7.5-oz vacuum-packed plastic bag; No code; UPC 7 930042 250954), because the product may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. The recalled Dried Bream was sold nationwide.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Scholtens Inc. recalls Granny Appleton Flavoured Pineapple Wedges (225g; All codes; UPC 6 79079 64330 4), due to the presence of sulphites. The recalled product was sold in Ontario.
  • Food Safety Recall: Loblaw Companies Ltd. recalls Kettle Cheddar & Sour Cream Krinkle Cut Potato Chips (220g; Code 2012 NO 15; UPC 0 84114 11902 5), due to contamination with harmful extraneous material (metal). The recalled product was sold nationwide.
  • Food Safety Recall: Itwal Ltd. recalls Popchips Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips (85g; 13MA08; UPC 0 82666 71240 4), due to contamination with harmful extraneous material (metal). The recalled product was sold in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.
  • Food Recall: Shah Trading Co. recalls Suraj Light Red Kidney Beans (2kg; All codes; UPC 0 57197 33133 2), due to contamination with “non-harmful” extraneous material (insects) and microbes. The recalled product was sold nationwide.

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall (France): La société Chevallier recalls Chevallier brand Neufchâtel cheese (All lots available for sale since 17/05/12 in départements 27, 60, 62, 76 and 80), due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. Please refer to the recall notice for a list of stores where the recalled cheese was sold.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Kattegat Seafood A/S recalls Capella smoked mackerel fillet with pepper (100g; Production date 08.06.2012; Best before 06.07.2012), due to mold growth on some of the smoked fish.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0845): Parasitic infestation with Anisakis of fresh hake from Denmark; distributed to Italy.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0846): Dioxins in organic eggs from Germany; distributed to Germany.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0847): Monoethylene glycol in wine from Italy; distributed to Germany.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0848): Unauthorized dichlorvos in fresh mint from Israel; distributed to Belgium.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0849): Excessive sulphite in sun dried tomatoes from Turkey; distributed to Greece.
  • Animal Feed Safety Notification (EU #2012.0850): Salmonella Tennessee in rape seed meal from Germany; distributed to Finland and Switzerland.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0851): Undeclared citric acid in frozen pangasius fillets from Vietnam; distributed to Italy.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Outbreak Alert (India): An outbreak of Hepatitis E has killed at least 12 people and sickened 4089 others in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, according to a BBC report. The outbreak is blamed on contaminated water from the Panchganga River.
  • Outbreak Alert (India): Sixty tribal students at the Chayanpur primary school in West Bengal fell ill after eating their mid-day meal, according to The Times of India. The meal was provided by the school.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (Australia): Sanofi-Aventis Australia Pty Ltd. recalls Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) 1.5 mg powder for injection; multidose vial with diluent vial (Lot C3787AA/Expiry Aug 2012; Lot C3787AC/Expiry Dec 2012; Lot C3787AE/Expiry Feb 2013; Lot C3787AG/Expiry Feb 2013), because the product’s sterility cannot be assured due to an environmental monitoring excursion during the manufacturing process.

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.

From The Mailbag: Botulism and Vacuum-Packed Fish

I received an email a couple of weeks ago from Pamela in Canada, who asked the following question:

“I live in Canada, in Toronto, and I’ve noticed that there have been two or maybe even three separate and apparently unrelated incidents here involving botulism in vacuum-packed fish in gourmet grocery stores. I think that at least in some cases, this is fish from other suppliers that the stores have simply repackaged. From my limited knowledge I also understand that botulism can flourish in an anaerobic environment – like that of a vacuum bag?? Which leads me to wonder….. Are vacuum bags safe? What’s going on here?”

I was reminded of Pamela’s question yesterday, courtesy of the latest food safety alert from FDA. Euphoria Fancy Food Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) is recalling Dried Bream (7.5-oz vacuum packed plastic bags; Product of Russia; No batch or date codes; UPC 7 930042 250954), which was found by the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets to not have been properly eviscerated prior to processing.

Several US states – including New York – have banned the sale of uneviscerated preserved fish, because the spores of Clostridium botulinum are more likely to be concentrated in the viscera than in any other part of the fish. New York State monitors for this hazard on a routine basis and issues an alert whenever it finds that uneviscerated or incompletely eviscerated fish are offered for sale. The state has posted three such alerts so far this year.

The hazard is not just academic. In April 2012, three people in the Greater Toronto (Ontario, Canada) area developed botulism after eating a traditional uneviscerated, salted and cured fish (fesikh) at a catered event. The fesikh was supplied by Lotus Catering and Fine Food in Toronto.

Fesikh is a traditional dish served as part of Egypt’s spring celebration, according to an article in the Egypt Independent. “The best fesikh,” the owner of a fish shop in Old Cairo told the reporter, “is made of grey mullet fish from either Bardawil Lake, or from Kafr al-Sheikh Governorate, and then left out in containers until distended. When it is sufficiently putrefied, salt is added and the fish are left to pickle for at least 40 days.”

Not all dried, smoked or preserved foods are encouraged to putrefy as part of their recipe. But, allowing the contents of the intestinal tract to remain inside the fish during its drying, salting, smoking or pickling steps is not a safe practice, even without the putrefaction step.

In addition to the fesikh health hazard alert, there have been two recalls of vacuum packaged fish in Canada in 2012 – both in Toronto. McEwan Gourmet Grocery Store recalled two brands of Smoked Salmon in April, and Pusateri’s Fine Foods recalled several different products in June. Unfortunately, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency did not explain why it thought that these products were potentially contaminated with Clostridium botulinum.

Pamela is correct – Clostridium botulinum loves a vacuum. Manufacturers who use vacuum-packaging as a means of extending the shelf life of a product must pay special attention to the processing and to the ingredients used to prevent this pathogen from growing. Nevertheless, the risk of contracting botulism from a correctly preserved and processed vacuum-packaged food is extremely low. Nor must a food be vacuum-packed in order to be the source of a botulism incident.

In 1978, a Colorado restaurant wrapped potatoes in foil, baked them, and allowed them to cool – still foil-wrapped – overnight without refrigeration. The next day, the potatoes were cut up to make potato salad. Twelve people developed botulism symptoms; seven of them were hospitalized. The temperature/time combination used to bake the potatoes was not enough to kill the Clostridium botulinum spores, and the ambient temperature cooling period allowed the microbe to germinate, grow, and produce its toxin in the tightly wrapped potatoes.

The bottom line is that food must be processed, stored and handled in a safe manner regardless of whether or not it is vacuum-packed. Or, as I recently told Food Safety News

Food safety is a farm-to-table responsibility, whether the table is in a family’s kitchen, a seniors’ residence dining hall, a school cafeteria or a five-star restaurant.

Recalls and Alerts: May 8, 2012

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

  • Pet Food Safety Recall: Sold Gold Health Products for Pets, Inc. (El Cajon, CA) recalls Solid Gold WolfCub Large Breed Puppy Food (4-lb, 15-lb and 33-lb packs; Best before December 30, 2012; Batch code starting SGB1201) and Solid Gold WolfKing Large Breed Adult Dog Food (4-lb, 15-lb and 28.5-lb packs; Best before December 30, 2012; Batch code starting SGL1201), after being notified by Diamond Pet Foods regarding the presence of Salmonella in Diamond’s Gaston, South Carolina facility. The recalled products were distributed in the United States and Canada from between January and May 2012.
  • Consumer Product Safety Alert: Water Pik, Inc. will replace certain SinuSense™ Water Pulsator nasal irrigation devices it manufactured between May, 2010 and July, 2011. This program is being offered in response to consumer complaints that water being used in the Pulsator seeped into the battery compartment leading to battery corrosion, possible reservoir contamination and the need to prematurely replace batteries.
  • Outbreak Alert Update: Buncombe County health officials report that the number of Salmonella Paratyphi B cases in the county has risen to 60. The outbreak has been traced to Smiling Hara Tempeh, a fermented soy bean product.
  • Food Safety Enforcement Action: The Hawai‘i State Department of Health (DOH) has issued a Notice of Violation and Order against Kanemitsu Inc. and George Kanemitsu dba Kanemitsu Bakery for selling, offering for sale, and distributing food products manufactured and prepared at its facility under unsanitary conditions. A penalty of $90,000 has been issued.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns O’Kroft, Inc. (Rockwall, TX) that a February 2012 inspection of the company’s facility revealed serious violations of the regulations for acidified foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Midwest Northern, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) that a December 2011 inspection of the company’s manufacturing facility found significant violations of FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for manufacturing, packing, or holding human food.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Riddle Brothers (Hornbeack, TN) that a March 2012 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility found 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 Purus Labs, Inc., d.b.a. Dark Cyde Supplements (Dallas, TX) that an April/May 2011 inspection of the company’s dietary supplement facility found violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) in Manufacturing, Packaging, or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements regulations.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Boiron Freres SAS (Valence, France) that a December 2011 inspection of the company’s juice processing facility found serious violations of the juice Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulation for foods.

Canada

  • Consumer Product Safety Recall: Dermolab Pharma (Sainte Julie, QC) and Dermtek Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Montreal, QC) recall REVERSA Cleansing Micellar Solution (300-mL clear bottle; UPC 06752000455 0; Lot code K0300D) due to possible contamination of the product by the bacterium Burkholderia cepacia. The recalled product was distributed to Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores across Canada.
  • Food Safety Alert: Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada remind the public that consumption of certain whole salted fish products like fesikh, a traditional dish in the Egyptian community, represents an increased risk of botulism because of the way they are prepared. The reminder comes on the heels of an outbreak of botulism in Ontario caused by the consumption of fesikh.
  • Outbreak Alert Update: Prince Edward Island’s Chief Public Health Office reports that the outbreak of gastroenteritis related to a roast beef dinner prepared by volunteers of the Princetown United Church on Saturday, April 28th has now affected 209 people. Testing of left over foods from the event have revealed the presence of Clostridium perfringens.

Europe

Australia and New Zealand

  • Allergy Alert (Australia): Heritage Fine Chocolates recalls four Macro Wholefoods Market brand Lactose-free chocolate products due to the presence of undeclared milk. Please see the recall notice for details of the recalled products, which were sold nationwide in Woolworths, Safeway, Flemings and Food For Less Supermarkets.

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.