Category: E. coli O157:H7

Recalls and Alerts: November 18, 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: Maumee Valley Vending Company recalls Buffalo Chicken Wedge Sandwiches containing cheese (CLF103; Expiry 11/21; $1.85), because milk was not listed among the ingredients on the label. The recalled product was distributed to office vending machines in Ohio and Indiana.
  • Food Safety Alert: The California Department of Public Health warns consumers not to eat the following four types of candy imported from India, after the agency found unacceptable levels of lead in these candies: Jyoti Indian Sweets Bonbons Indiens Sugar Rewdi, Hans Sugar Rewari, Punjab Bazaar Rewari Gur Jaggery, and Punjab Bazaar Sweet Rewdi. Distributors of the imported candies are working with the state to remove the products from the marketplace.
  • Food Safety Recall Update: United Natural Foods, Inc. corrects its previously announced recall of Gentes Foods Gordita Black Bean Tortillas (10-oz; UPC 618032102021) to revise the date code from 12 7 11 to 11 6 11. The recall was initiated because the product may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, due to a lack of temperature control during distribution.
  • Food Safety Alert: FDA is warning consumers not to eat Loyd Grossman Korma Sauce (350mL jars; Batch code 1218R; Sell by date February 2013). Premier Foods, the UK distributor of the product recalled this batch of sauce after it was linked to two cases of botulism in Scotland. While the product is not believed to be distributed in the USA, consumers may have purchased it over the Internet.
  • Outbreak Alert Update: CDC reports that the Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak that was linked to contaminated Turkish Pine Nuts is over. In all, 43 individuals in 5 states were infected with the outbreak strain. Two patients were hospitalized.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Supermarché Serge Fleurent inc. (IGA Extra, Granby, QC) recalls the following products due to the presence of undeclared soy and sesame: Pâté chinois maison, Parfait granola, Sandwich grillé QE/BA/FRO, Tourtière maison, and Ragout de boulettes.
  • Food Safety Recall: The Liquor Control Board of Ontario recalls the following alcoholic vodka beverages (330mL bottles) after detecting glass particles in some bottles: Orangetini Orange Vodka Cooler 4-pack, Pomtini Vodka & Pomegranate Cooler 4-pack, Woody’s Blackcurrant & Apple 4-pack, Woody’s Light Orange 4-pack, Woody’s Pink Grapefruit 4-pack, Woody’s Refresher 4-pack, Woody’s Light Raspberry 4-pack, Woody’s Vodka Cola 4-pack, Woody’s Sasparilla 4-pack, and Woody’s Party Pack (mixed flavours) 12-pack.

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall (UK): Bleiker’s Smokehouse recalls Bleiker’s Traditional Oak Smoked Scottish Salmon (Batch #55x; Use by 23 November 2011), due to high levels of Listeria monocytogenes found in one retail pack.
  • Outbreak Alert Update (UK): A third child has been admitted to hospital in Glasgow with symptoms of botulism. The child is a sibling of the other two botulism victims whose illness is thought to be linked to Loyd Grossman Korma sauce, made by Premier Foods in Suffolk, UK.
  • Outbreak Alert (UK): The Tir na n-Og nursery in Bangor has been closed after a child and an adult with links to the nursery were diagnosed with E. coli O157.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Alert (Vietnam): More than 100 tonnes of chicken feet imported from India by Quang Ninh Seafood Processing and Exporting Ltd. Co. were found by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Quality Control department to be spoiled and containing microorganisms in excess of food safety standards. The meat carried no indication of production date, expiry date, or origin. The importer did not respond to government requests for a meeting, and the spoiled meat was removed from the port area without government permission. The Vietnam Customs Administration has been asked to determine the current location of the spoiled chicken feet.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Contact Lens Safety Recall (Australia): CooperVision Australia Pty Ltd. recalls Avaira (enfilcon A) Sphere Contact Lenses, also marketed under the brand names Clear Choice Premium Plus 14 Day Sphere, Prevue Platinum Sphere, ProActive Premium Sphere, VisionPlus Fortnightly Sphere, Softview Fortnightly Plus Sphere, See and SAve Premium 2 Week Sphere, Trio2 Premium 2 Week Sphere, Ascend Evolve Sphere, Betaview 2 Weekly Sphere, and Easyvision elite fortnightly Sphere. The recalled contact lenses have been found to be contaminated with a silicone oil residue.

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 17, 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: New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets warns consumers not to eat “Salted Smoked Herring” sold by Juncalito Abajo Meat Corp., d/b/a Associated (Brooklyn, NY) and distributed by P West In Food Inc. (Brooklyn, NY), because the uneviscerated product may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores.
  • Food Safety Recall: The J.M. Smucker Company recalls Smucker’s® Natural Peanut Butter Chunky (16-oz jars; UPC 5150001701; Production Codes 1307004 & 1308004; Best if used by August 3, 2012 and August 4, 2012), because the peanut butter may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled product was distributed in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, and was sold between November 8 and 17, 2011 in stores belonging to Buehler’s Fresh Foods, Copps, Mariano’s Fresh Market, Metro Market, Pick’n Save, Price Chopper, Target, Tops Friendly Markets, and Walmart.  The recalled peanut butter may also have been available in other grocery stores. Please check your pantry and discard or return any recalled product.
  • Food Safety Recall: Ready Pac Foods, Inc. (Irwindale, CA) recalls bagged salad products containing Romaine lettuce (Use by date November 18, 2011), because the products may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The recalled salad products were shipped to Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington, and include the following: Ready Pac Caesar Romaine, 10-oz; Ready Pac Santa Fe Caesar Complete Salad, 9.25-oz; Ready Pac Classic Caesar Complete Salad, 10-oz; Ready Pac Bella Romaine, 10-oz; Dining In Classic Caesar Salad Kit, 10-oz; Raley’s Caesar Romaine, 10-oz; Trader Joe’s Romaine Salad, 10-oz; Trader Joe’s Very American Salad, 16-oz; Safeway Farms Caesar Romaine, 10-oz; Safeway Farms Hearts of Romaine, 9-oz; Safeway Farms Complete Caesar Supreme, 10-oz; and Safeway Farms Complete Southwestern Ranch, 10.25-oz. The recalled salad products were sold by stores belonging to the following supermarket chains: Safeway (Safeway, Carrs, Pavilions, Pak ‘N Save, Randalls, Tom Thumb and Vons in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, California, Nevada, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Wyoming), Albertsons (Southern California and Nevada), and Trader Joe’s (Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington), and may also have been available in other grocery stores. Please check your refrigerator and discard or return any recalled product.
  • Contact Lens Safety Recall: CooperVision expands its worldwide recall of Avaira contact lenses to include Avaira Sphere contact lenses. The recall was initiated after silicone oil residue was found on some Avaira Sphere lenses.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: Boucherie A.G.A. inc. (Montreal, QC) recalls Saucisse cacciatore douce and Saucisse cacciatore forte (all product sold up to and including 2 November, 2011), because the sausages were prepared in a manner that presents a risk to consumer health.
  • Food Safety Recall: The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation recalls all Woody’s Vodka Coolers (330ml bottles) after glass was detected in some of the bottles in Manitoba and Ontario. The recalled Woody’s brand flavors include Sasparilla, Pink Grapefruit, Orangetini, Pomtini and Refresher.
  • Food Safety Recall: NB Liquor expands its public recall of Woody’s Mexican Lime Alcoholic Vodka Beverage to include the following additional flavors and brands (single and 4-pack formats): Orangetini Orange Vodka Cooler, Pomtini Vodka & Pomegranate Cooler, Woody’s Blackcurrant & Apple, Woody’s Light Orange, Woody’s Pink Grapefruit, Woody’s Refresher, Woody’s 99 Raspberry (Light), Woody’s Vodka Col, Woody’s Sasparilla, and Woody’s Party Pack (mixed flavours) after glass particles were detected in some bottles.

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Contact Lens Safety Recall (Hong Kong): CooperVision Hong Kong recalls all Avaira and BioComfort XO contact lenses, because of the presence of silicone oil residue which may cause hazy vision or discomfort, severe eye pain or even eye injuries requiring medical treatment.
  • Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Nycomed (Hong Kong) Limited recalls Omnaris Nasal Spray, 50mcg (Batch #137930), due to pinholes or leakage in some pouches. This is part of a worldwide recall initiated by the German manufacturer, Nycomed Gmbh.

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.

Organic Pastures and E. coli O157:H7

Raw milk is a touchy subject in the food safety community, and nowhere more so than in California – the home state of Organic Pastures.

Yesterday, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced that the State had imposed a recall and quarantine on raw milk products from Organic Pastures (Fresno County, CA). The action resulted from reports of five E. coli O157:H7 illnesses among children in the state.

The five children live in four California counties: San Diego, Contra Costa, King and Sacramento. They became ill during the months of August through October. Three of the children developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and were hospitalized. The San Diego area victim is a five-year old boy, who became ill in late August. He was not hospitalized. All five children were infected with a single genetic strain of E. coli O157:H7.

CDPH says that the children had only a single food exposure in common –  raw milk produced by Organic Pastures. According to Dr. Debra Gilliss, Chief of the CDPH Disease Investigations Section, all five children were reported by their parents to have consumed raw whole milk.

I’m told by Steve Lyle, Director of Public Affairs for CDFA, that there were no investigative product samples collected and tested by the state. The decision to recall and quarantine Organic Pastures products was based on epidemiological evidence. This, presumably, was because the milk consumed by the five children was long gone by the time the outbreak was identified.

Organic Pastures appealed the recall and quarantine order, according to a report carried today in The Sacramento Bee, on the grounds that the outbreak cluster happened two to three months ago and that the microbe was not found in the dairy’s milk. CDFA heard the appeal, but reaffirmed their order.

Samples will be taken and analyzed as part of the state’s inspection of Organic Pasture’s facility and operations. Lyle didn’t know how long it would take for the dairy to be permitted to resume distribution of its quarantined products. That will depend, according to Mr. Lyle, “…on completion of any needed corrections to sanitary conditions of equipment, good manufacturing practices, and outcome of laboratory tests demonstrating food contact surfaces are properly cleaned and products meet applicable microbial standards.”

This is the second E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that has been linked to raw milk produced and distributed by Organic Pastures. A similar situation arose in 2006, when six children developed E. coli O157:H7 infections after they consumed Organic Pastures raw milk or raw colostrum. The follow-up inspection carried out by the state recovered E. coli O157:H7 – not the outbreak strain – from five fecal samples taken from cows at the dairy. The E. coli O157:H7 strains found in 2006 are genetically different from the strain that has been recovered from the five victims of the current outbreak, according to Dr. Gilliss of CDPH.

California health officials offer the following information and advice to California residents who purchase and consume Organic Pastures raw milk products:

Symptoms of E. coli O157:H7 infection may include abdominal cramps and diarrhea which is often bloody. Most infected people recover within a week; however, some may develop complications that require hospitalization. Young children and the elderly are at highest risk for a potentially life-threatening complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which includes kidney failure. People who develop symptoms of E. coli O157:H7 infection after consuming unpasteurized milk or milk products should consult their health care provider. Physicians who have patients suspected of having HUS or E. coli O157:H7 infections should report them to the local health department.