Category: meat poultry eggs

Recall Roundup: January 5, 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.

United States
  • Food Safety Recall: USDA releases retail distribution list for organic ground beef products recalled by First Class Foods, Inc. due to E. coli O157:H7 contamination.
  • Over-The-Counter Product Safety Recall: Triad Group (Hartland, WI) recalls all lots of Alcohol Prep Pads, Alcohol Swabs and Alcohol SwabSticks due to concerns about contamination with Bacillus cereus. The recalled covers both Sterile-marked and non-sterile products manufactured by Triad Group and marketed under the following private label brands: Cardinal Health, PSS Select, VersaPro, Boca/Ultilet, Moore Medical, Walgreens, CVS and Conzellin. Products covered by this recall were distributed in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Canada
  • Food Safety Recall: Wal-Mart Canada Corp. recalls Sprouters Northwest brand Deli Sprouts (5 oz.; UPC 0 33383 70267 4; sold up to and including January 3, 2011) because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled sprouts were sold in Wal-Mart stores in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Several illnesses have been linked to consumption of the sprouts in the USA, but there have been no associated illnesses reported in Canada.
  • Over-The-Counter Product Safety Recall: Triad Group (Hartland, WI) recalls all lots of Alcohol Prep Pads, Alcohol Swabs and Alcohol SwabSticks due to concerns about contamination with Bacillus cereus. The recalled covers both Sterile-marked and non-sterile products manufactured by Triad Group and marketed under the following private label brands: Cardinal Health, PSS Select, VersaPro, Boca/Ultilet, Moore Medical, Walgreens, CVS and Conzellin. Products covered by this recall were distributed in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Europe
  • Allergy Alert (France): Auchan recalls Auchan pork spring rolls and chicken spring rolls (Nems au Porc – Nems au Poulet; Best before 12 janvier 2011) because the product may contain undeclared shrimp, fish and crab meat.
  • Allergy Alert (UK): Denar Ltd. recalls Denar golden jumbo raisins (200g; Best before 31 January 2012) and Denar dried apricots (200g; Best before 30 October 2011), because the products contain undeclared sulphur dioxide.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Dalby Møkke A/S recalls organic oatmeal (Best before 29-11-2011) because the product may contain the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol. Recalled products were sold under the following brands: Dalby Mill, Best, First Price, Gammelby Mill, and Dawn.
  • Food Safety Withdrawal (UK): Wm. Morrison Supermarkets plc recalls all date codes of Morrisons Unsalted Pistachio Nuts in Shell, 280g because one batch of the nuts was found to contain aflatoxins at levels higher than the regulatory limits.
  • Over-The-Counter Product Safety Recall: Triad Group (Hartland, WI) recalls all lots of Alcohol Prep Pads, Alcohol Swabs and Alcohol SwabSticks due to concerns about contamination with Bacillus cereus. The recalled covers both Sterile-marked and non-sterile products manufactured by Triad Group and marketed under the following private label brands: Cardinal Health, PSS Select, VersaPro, Boca/Ultilet, Moore Medical, Walgreens, CVS and Conzellin. Products covered by this recall were distributed in the USA, Canada and Europe.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0007): Foreign body (plum stone and peduncle) in low sweetened plum jam from Poland; distributed to the Czech Republic.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0008): Mercury in frozen sliced blue shark (Prionace glauca) from Vietnam; distributed to Italy.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0009): High content of DINP – di-isononyl phthalate (1.4 %) in lid of jars containing roasted red peppers from Turkey; distributed to Slovenia.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2011.0010): High content of lead in fruit yoghurt dessert for infants from the Czech Republic; distributed to Poland.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Allergy Alert (Australia): Coles recalls all date codes of Coles Frozen Crumbed Fish Fillets Lemon (1kg and 425g packs), because the product may contain undeclared peanuts.
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.

Guest Blog: Ten things government can do

The following Guest Blog first appeared on Safety Zone, a regular blog feature on the Meatingplace.com site, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of its author, Dr. James Marsden.

Ten things government can do to help small plants improve food safety
 

Food safety standards are the same for all plants, big and small. Large companies usually have more resources to hire people, invest in interventions and maintain microbiological testing programs. Of course, this puts small plants at a disadvantage. The US Congress, USDA and other government agencies need to develop strategies to assist small plants or the meat industry will become even more concentrated. Here are 10 things that could be done to help small businesses improve food safety:

 

  1. Congress should provide tax credits for investment in equipment and process improvements. This has the benefit of helping small businesses improve their food safety systems plus it will improve public health and reduce costs associated with foodborne disease.
  2. USDA should establish a library of reference materials for use as supporting documentation for HACCP plans and SSOP’s.
  3. The mission of USDA inspectors and EIAO Officers should be formally changed to facilitate food safety improvements.
  4. USDA should establish requirements that beef slaughter plants implement at least two validated interventions (USDA’s AMS has already implemented this requirement for school lunch purchases).
  5. USDA should require beef slaughter plants and plants that produce trimmings to test for E. coli O157:H7 and maintain process control records (AMS has already implemented this requirement for school lunch purchases as well). The combination of steps 4 and 5 will reduce the risk of pathogen contamination in meat raw materials for small businesses.
  6. USDA should encourage better control of Listeria monocytogenes by dropping Alternative 3 and requiring all plants to either incorporate a growth inhibitor or use a post lethality treatment(or both). Small plants that operate under Alternative 3 are just waiting their turn for a recall.
  7. Establish a dedicated USDA resource desk for small plants to help answer technical questions.
  8. USDA should provide clear direction on methods for microbiological sampling and testing.
  9. HACCP training should be offered on a USDA website that allows employee training without the expense of travelling to a course site and paying for registration.
  10. USDA should protect small plants from being shut off by suppliers as a result of microbiological tests results or food safety policies.
No doubt there are many other actions that could be taken to help small plants improve food safety. This list of 10 is a good place to start.

About Jim Marsden: Dr. James L. Marsden is Regent’s Distinguished Professor of Food Safety and Security at Kansas State University, and the senior science advisor for the North American Meat Processors Association. He is the past president of the American Meat Institute Foundation in Washington, DC and a graduate of Oklahoma State University.


Some explanatory notes for eFoodAlert readers:

USDA = United States Department of Agriculture
SSOP = Sanitation Standard Operating Practices
EIAO = Enforcement Investigations and Analysis Officer
AMS = Agricultural Marketing Service (an agency of USDA)
Alternative 3 = An alternative method for controlling Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat meats that relies solely on sanitation and testing, without requiring the use of antimicrobial agents or a final lethal treatment to kill the bacteria.

Chicken Jerky Dog Treats: An FDA Update

December 19, 2008

Last week, we reported on a mysterious kidney ailment occurring in Australian dogs, which appeared to be linked to Kramar brand chicken jerky dog treats. Kramar announced a precautionary recall of the treats, even though no one has yet been able to determine the exact cause of the ailment.

The chicken jerky treats were manufactured in China.

In our report, we mentioned that a similar problem had arisen in the United States in 2007, and that FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine had issued a warning to pet owners. As in the Australian situation, the treats were imported from China, and the contaminant that triggered the kidney symptoms could not be found.

Today, the Center for Veterinary Medicine has issued a new Preliminary Animal Health Notification on this same problem. According to CVM, the agency has continued to receive complaints about pet illnesses linked to chicken jerky treats. Unfortunately, CVM appears to be no closer to solving the mystery.

CVM has issued this new warning to alert pet owners who choose to give these treats to their dogs to watch for the development of any of the following symptoms, which may appear hours or days after a dog has eaten these treats. Small dogs appear to be especially susceptible.

  • decreased appetite (dog may continue to eat the treat but refuse usual food)
  • decreased activity level
  • vomiting
  • diarrhea – sometimes with blood
  • increased water consumption and/or increased urination

A dog that displays any of these symptoms after having eaten chicken jerky treats should be seen by a veterinarian if the symptoms are severe or if they persist longer than 24 hours.

FDA is continuing its investigation into possible chemical or microbiological contaminants in the chicken jerky treats. The agency urges dog owners and veterinarians to report any pet food- associated illnesses to the FDA Consumer Coordinator in their state.