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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Canada
- Food Safety Recall: Boucherie W.E. Bégin, inc (Saint-Jean, QC) recalls Fesse Braisée Tranchée / Sliced Ham (vacuum packaged, Best before 11 October 2012 or Sliced to order, packaged 26 and 27 September, 2012), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
- Food Safety Recall: UNFI Canada Inc. recalls Popcorn Indiana brand Aged White Cheddar Popcorn (255g & 225g; UPC 8 43571 00078 5; Best by 18/FEB/2013 & 25/FEB/2013, respectively), because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled products were distributed in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, and may have also been distributed in other provinces.
- Food Safety Recall: To-Le-Do Foodservice Ltd. recalls a number of To-Le-Do beef products (code dates September 10, 25, & 26, 2012) due to potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The recalled products were supplied to hotels, restaurants and institutions in Manitoba.
- Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall: CBC News reports that Sanofi Pasteur has recalled batches of Typhim Vi vaccine (Batch #G1122-1, G1557-1, G0182-2 & H0176-1), used to immunize people against Salmonella typhi, because the amount of antigen varied in some syringes.
- Outbreak Alert Update: The outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses linked to recalled meat from XL Foods, Inc. (Brooks, AB) has grown to eleven cases, in Alberta (7 cases), Newfoundland and Labrador (1 case in the Eastern Region), Quebec (2 cases) and British Columbia (1 case reported from Vancouver Island). As of October 2nd, an additional 13 cases also were under investigation in Saskatchewan.
Europe
- Allergy Alert (Belgium): Natura S.p.r.l recalls Natura brand Cocktail Sauce (180g and 310g jars; DDM between 1/10/2012 and 3/04/2013), because the product contains undeclared celery.
- Allergy Alert (Belgium): Revogan recalls Valpiform brand Pain de mie tranché (350g; Lot 12144; Expiry 21/11/2012) and Pain de mie aux fibres (350g; Lot #12145; Expiry 22/11/2012 & 24/11/2012), because the products, which are labeled “sans arachides” contain undeclared peanut.
- Food Safety Recall (Belgium): S.p.r.l Bella Sicilia recalls Marte brand Ricotta Torretta (850-1000g; Lot #131212 & 100113; Best before dates of 13/12/2012 & 10/01/2013, respectively), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
- Food Safety Recall (Finland): Itu Biodyn Ltd. recalls Holle Bio-Babybrei 3-Korn baby food (Made in Germany; Batch #R11171; Expiry 04/25/2013), because the product contains ochratoxin A in excess of the allowable limit.
- Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (UK): BBC reports that Sanofi Pasteur MSD has recalled 88% of its Typhim Vi vaccine stock because tests found that some samples were too weak. Individuals who were injected with the vaccine since January 2011 may not be fully immunized against typhoid.
- Outbreak Alert Update (Germany): The outbreak of acute gastroenteritis that sickened more than 11,000 individuals – most of them children – ws traced to a batch of frozen strawberries. The Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Consumer Protection has detected noroviruses in a sample from this batch of strawberries.
Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands
- Food Safety Alert/Recall (Hong Kong): The Centre for Food Safety has been advised by Canada that some of the beef products recalled by XL Foods Inc. were supplied to Hong Kong. These products were recalled due to potential contamination with E. coli O157:H7. The Centre has alerted the trade and has instructed importers and distributors to recall the affected products.
- Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Amedis Company Limited recalls Inflexal V 2012/2013 seasonal influenza vaccine (All batches) as a result of a global recall announced by the manufacturer, Crucell. Two batches of the product at the Crucell’s Swiss manufacturing site were found to be contaminated with bacteria.
- Proprietary Medicine Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Peking Health Products Company recalls Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Wan (Batch No.20120603W), because the total bacteria count of 61,000 is 6-fold higher than the permitted limit.
- OTC Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (Hong Kong): GlaxoSmithKline Ltd. recalls Panadol Cold & Flu Hot Remedy – Lemon with Honey (Batch #2004), due to an error in printing the expiration date.
Australia and New Zealand
- Food Safety Recall (Australia): Woolworths Ltd. recalls Woolworths Almond Kernels (Best before 05/02/13, 06/04/13, 07/04/13, 12/04/13), due to Salmonella contamination. The recalled nuts were distributed nationally at Woolworths Supermarkets, Safeway, Food for Less, and Flemings Supermarkets.
- Outbreak Alert (New Zealand): Health officials are warning the public, restaurants and cafés to cook liver and other organ meats thoroughly. Twenty-six cases of Campylobacter infections have been linked to consumption of liver in the past year.
- Outbreak Alert (New Zealand): Three patients and 13 staff members of Rotorua Hospital were infected with norovirus between September 18th and 21st. The outbreak may also have spread to a rest home.
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.
- A&P
- Big Y® World Class Market®
- BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc.
- Bloom
- Brookshire’s
- Costco Wholesale Corporation (US stores)
- Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
- EDEKA (Germany)
- Food City
- Food Lion
- Giant Food LLC
- Gros Cidac (Italy)
- Hannaford Brothers Co.
- Harris Teeter
- H-E-B
- The Kroger Company*
- Lucky Supermarkets
- Price Chopper
- Publix
- Raley’s
- Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc.
- Safeway**
- Sainsbury’s
- ShopRite
- Stop & Shop
- Sweetbay Supermarkets
- Target
- Top Food & Drug
- Tops Friendly Markets
- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
- Wegmans
- Whole Foods Market
- WinCo Foods
- Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.