Category: E. coli O157:H7

Recalls and Alerts: September 28, 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/Outbreak Alert: Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. (Emporia, KS) recalls Kroger brand Ground Beef 73% Lean- 27% Fat (5-pound chubs; ID code D-0211 QW; Produced August 23, 2011; Best before or freeze by date Sep 12 2011), Butcher’s Brand Ground Beef 73% Lean – 27% Fat (3-pound chubs; ID code D-0211 LWIF; Produced August 23, 2011; Best before or freeze by date Sep 12 2011), and generic label Ground Beef 73% Lean – 27% Fat (3-pound chubs; ID code D-0211 LWI; Produced August 23, 2011; Best before or freeze by date Sep 12 2011), because the ground beef may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The recalled ground beef was implicated in a cluster of illnesses in an Ohio household. Left-over ground beef from the patients’ home tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. The 5-lb Kroger chubs were shipped to distribution centers in Indiana and Tennessee; the Butcher’s Brand 3-lb chubs were shipped to distribution centers in North Carolina and South Carolina; and the generic 3-lb chubs were shipped to distribution centers in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. USDA has released a retail distribution list for the recalled ground beef.
  • Pet Treat Recall: Delmonte Pet recalls Milk Bone Dog Biscuit, 10lb (Code #90967; Lot code 12071k), according to a notice posted by Ingles Supermarkets. No reason for the recall was given by the supermarket.
  • Consumer Product Safety Recall: LM Import & Export (Miami, FL) recalls toy cars, due to a violation of the lead paint standard. The products were manufactured in China and sold at Mega Wholesale stores throughout Miami, FL from September 2010 through January 2011.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: Les Cuisines Gaspésiennes de Matane Ltée (Matane, QC) recalls Compliments brand Sensations Old-Style Smoked Ham (175g pkgs; Lot code 230 87; Best before 2011NO13), because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled smoked ham was distributed in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Europe

  • Allergy Alert (France): HEMA recalls Natural Breakfast Organic Spice Bread (4 x 55g packages) because the product contains undeclared wheat.
  • Allergy Alert (Finland): Kuopio Salad Ltd. recalls several salads, because the spice mixture used in the salads contains undeclared mustard and celery.
  • Food Safety Recall (Belgium): La Vieille Abbaye recalls Pâte Rôti au Four (320g; Lot 673; Best before 09/11/11), after detecting Listeria monocytogenes in a sample. The recalled product was sold in Cora Hornu and Cora Rocourt stores.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Proprietary Medicine  Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Tachio Trading Company recalls Gan Mao Qing capsules (all batches) after the Department of Health finds a trace amount of paracetamol, a western drug, in a sample of the product.
  • Outbreak Alert (India): Authorities at IIT-Powai confirmed that 500-600 students were suffering from food poisoning. Six students remained in hospital as of Tuesday night.

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: September 24, 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: Mattern Sausage (Orange, CA) recalls Mattern Sausage Tongue and Blood Sausage (4-lb to 8-lb chugs; Produced September 6, 2011), due to the presence of undeclared hydrolyzed soy protein. The recalled sausage products were shipped to sandwich shops near Orange, CA.
  • Allergy Alert: Prolab Nutrition Inc. (Chatsworth, CA) recalls certain protein items, because they contain undeclared wheat and gluten. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.
  • Food Safety Recall: Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated (Norwalk, CT) recalls Baked Naturals Sesame Sticks (10.2-oz boxes; WO7*1781 Sell by 11/20/2011, WO7*1891 Sell by 11/27/2011, WO7*1921 Sell by 12/4/2011, WO7*2041 Sell by 12/11/2011, WO7*2061 Sell by 12/13/2011, and WO7*2221 Sell by 1/1/2012), because the products may contain small, thin pieces of wire.
  • Food Safety Recall: World Wide Fish Products, Inc. (Bronx, NY) recalls Smoked Split Herring, because the product was found to be uneviscerated and represents a risk for Clostridium botulinum. The product was distributed in New York City on 08/17/2011 to Food Plaza Supermarket, NSA Supermarket (Bravo), Brooklyn # 1 Meat Market, P&P Distributors, and Flaming Meat Distributors.
  • Food Safety Recall: Palo Duro Meat (Amarillo, TX) recalls fine ground beef (40-lb boxes containing four 10-lb chubs; Production code 19110; Est. 7282), because the ground beef may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The frozen product was produced on Sept. 9, 2011, and shipped to two warehouses in Georgia for further distribution to institutions. The institutions include six school districts in Georgia associated with the National School Lunch Program.
  • Food Safety Recall/Outbreak Alert: Distributors, retailers, restaurants, and consumers have been advised not to eat, sell, or ship oysters harvested between August 30 and September 19 from Washington’s Hood Canal growing area #4. The state Department of Health made the recommendations, including contacting people who bought the oysters over the Internet, as part of a recall of oysters in the shell harvested in that growing area between those dates. Oyster harvesting in the area was closed after five people who ate raw oysters containing Vibrio parahaemolyticus became ill.
  • Outbreak Alert: More than 40 people have become ill with gastrointestinal symptoms after eating food purchased at the Grace Covenant Church fundraiser in York, South Carolina on September 16th and 17th. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control is advising people who purchased food at the fundraiser to throw it away.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Solo Fruit Inc. recalls Solo Fruit brand Dark Chocolate Sorbet (500ml packages; Lot codes 1111116 or 1111165), because the product may contain undeclared milk. The recalled sorbet was distributed only in Quebec.
  • Food Safety Recall: Phoenicia Products Inc. recalls Alkanater brand Tahini (908g containers; Prod. 5/1/2011; Exp. 5/1/2013), because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled tahini was distributed nationally.
  • Food Safety Recall: Au Gout d’autrefois (Sainte-Famille, QC) recalls certain products sold in 500ml and 250ml glass jars, because the products were not produced in a way that ensures their microbiological safety. Please refer to the recall notice for a detailed list of affected products.

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Alert (Hong Kong): The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ordered the temporary closure of a cooked food market stall in Yuen Long for thorough disinfection after Vibrio cholerae was detected in a water sample collected from its fish tank.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Outbreak Alert (Australia): South Australia Health has received reports of an additional four cases of shiga-toxin producing E. coli infections, all among people who reported visiting the Royal Adelaide Show, bringing the total number of infections to seven. Two of the seven patients have developed HUS. While most of the infections are among children, one of the HUS victims is a 27-year old man, who is receiving treatment in hospital and is reported to be in serious but stable condition.

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.

New Hope for HUS

In one of the first rays of hope for sufferers of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), FDA announced today its approval of Soliris “… to treat patients with atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS), a rare and chronic blood disease that can lead to kidney (renal) failure and is also associated with increased risk of death and stroke.”

According to FDA, atypical HUS accounts for 5-10% of all cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome and affects children disproportionately. Soliris is the first drug to be approved in the USA for treating atypical HUS.

Soliris (eculizumab) is a humanized monoclonal antibody that was first approved by FDA in 2007 to treat a rare type of blood disorder (paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria), and is classified as an orphan drug. It is marketed in the USA by Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

While today’s FDA approval of Soliris is limited to atypical HUS, the agency’s action represents the first hint that a specific treatment for more common forms of hemolytic uremic syndrome may be in the offing. HUS is a life-threatening syndrome that affects a significant percentage of people – especially children – who are infected with E. coli O157:H7 and other shiga-toxin producing strains of E. coli.

More than 900 victims of this summer’s E. coli O104:H4 outbreak developed HUS, and 34 of those people died of the disease. The death toll might have been even higher, had doctors not administered eculizumab (Soliris) to 3 children with severe HUS and central nervous system complications. The children were at risk of permanent neurologic damage and not responding to conventional treatment.

All three children responded to the Soliris treatment, and eventually were discharged from hospital with apparently normal neurological status and little or no residual effects of their illness. Six months later, all three children were “in full remission,” according to a report published in New England Journal of Medicine.

Doctors who want to use Soliris to treat HUS must jump through a few extra hoops, due to the limited nature of its clinical trial. Soliris is available only through a restricted program, according to FDA, and prescribers must enroll in a registration program and provide a medication guide to patients who receive the drug.

Nevertheless, today’s approval is major news for HUS sufferers, so many of whom are children. Parents whose children are suffering from HUS – and physicians who treat HUS patients – should educate themselves about this new treatment possibility.