Category: norovirus

Recalls and Alerts: January 22, 2013

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: C & H Meat Company (Vernon, CA) recalls Korean Brand BBQ Flavored Spicy Pork Butt (10-oz pkgs and bulk pkgs; Produced through Jan 16, 2013), Marinated Spicy Pork Butt (10-oz pkgs and bulk pkgs; Produced through Jan 16, 2013) and Korean Brand BBQ Flavored Spicy Boneless Chicken Leg Meat (10-oz pkgs and bulk pkgs; Produced through Jan 16, 2013), due to undeclared monosodium glutamate (MSG). The recalled products were distributed to retail establishments and restaurants in California.
  • Food Safety Recall: Knott’s Fine Foods, Inc. (Paris, TN) recalls Chicken Salad Sandwiches (3-oz black wedge with clear plastic film closure; UPC 0-11984-01132-6; All expiration dates 1/29/13 and earlier), after routine testing by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture found Listeria monocytogenes in a sandwich. The recalled sandwiches were supplied to 35 retail stores in West Tennessee, Western Kentucky and North Mississippi.
  • Food Safety Recall: Annie’s Inc. recalls all varieties of Annie’s Rising Crust Frozen Pizza (Best by dates including and between 09Jan13 and 14Sep13) after learning a fine metal mesh screen failed at a third-party flour mill and fragments of flexible metal mesh were found in the flour and pizza dough. The recalled varieties include: Organic Four Cheese Pizza (23.5 oz; UPC 013562 200016), Organic Pepperoni Pizza (23.6 oz; UPC 013562 200009), Organic Supreme Pizza (25.4 oz; UPC 013562 200023), Organic Spinach and Mushroom Pizza (25.0 oz; UPC 013562 200054), Four Cheese Pizza (22.5 oz; UPC 013562 200078), Pepperoni Pizza (22.6 oz; UPC 013562 200061), and BBQ Recipe Chicken Pizza (23.1 oz; UPC 013562 200092). The recalled products were distributed at grocery, mass and natural food stores throughout the United States.
  • Food Safety Recall: Pamela’s Products recalls Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix (24 oz; Best by Sep 26 2013), Pamela’s Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix (13.6 oz; Best by Oct 7 2013), Pamela’s Chocolate Cake Mix (21 oz; Best by Sep 11 2013, Sep 19 2013 and Oct 4 2013) and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie (5.29 oz; Best by Apr 14 2013), after having received notice from four individual consumers that they found what appears to be a single plastic or glass fragment in four different Pamela’s products. The recalled products were supplied to retailers nationwide.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Burr Favara Enterprises (Omaha, NE) that a December 2012 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility found serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Bryon K. Townsend (Tollesboro, KY) that a November 2012 inspection of his seafood processing facility found violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Sunburst Trout Farms, LLC (Canton, NC) that a July 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 regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns True Taste, LLC (Kenosha, WI) that an October-November 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 regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Pierino Frozen Foods, Inc. (Lincoln Park, MI) that a November 2012 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility found serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Sally’s Cider Press (Harmony, PA) that a September-October 2012 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 regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Food for Health International, LLC (Provo, UT) that an April-May 2012 inspection of the company’s dietary supplement manufacturing facility found a number of violations of the Current Good manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling, or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Lennie Ciglen Distribution Inc. recalls all packages of Mahalo Candy Bar (57g; UPC 8 99033 00203 3), Buccaneer Candy Bar (57g; UPC 8 99033 00202 6), Snap! Candy Bar (50g; UPC 8 99033 00205 7), Twilight Candy Bar (60g; UPC 8 99033 00201 9), Jokerz Candy Bar (60g; UPC 8 99033 00200 2) and Cleo’s Peanut Butter Cups (43g; UPC 8 99033 00204 0), due to undeclared milk. The recalled products were supplied to retailers in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.
  • Allergy Alert: Meilleures Marques Limitée recalls St-Hubert Chicken Noodle Soup Mix (240g; Lot 112489; Exp. 2015/01/20; UPC 0 66701 00131 9), due to undeclared egg. The recalled product was supplied to retailers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
  • Food Safety Recall: Michel St-Arneault Inc. recalls Selection Hashbrown Potatoes (750g; Lots 2327, 2305, and 2306; UPC 0 59749 89329 9), due to ‘non-harmful’ extraneous material contamination. The recalled product was supplied to retailers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Quebec.
  • Food Recall: Metro Inc. recalls Irresistibles Three-Meat Pie (635g; Lot 28412; UPC 0 59749 88304 7), due to a labeling issue. The recalled product was sold in Quebec.
  • Food Safety Alert: CBC reports that expired infant formula has been found on some Vancouver-area supermarket shelves in violation of federal food safety guidelines.

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Ove Johnsen, Fisketorvet recalls Live Oysters (Product of France; Package dates 3/1-2013 and 7/1-2013), due to Norovirus contamination. The oysters were supplied to retail stores with fish departments, fishmongers and restaurants.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2013.0066): Possible rodenticide granules in confectionery made with milk powder from Poland; distributed to the Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2013.0068): Salmonella in lemon thyme from Morocco; distributed to the United Kingdom.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2013.0069): Acephate in okra from India; distributed to France.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Outbreak Alert (Hong Kong): The Centre for Health Protection is investigating two suspected food poisoning clusters involving six people who dined at a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui on January 15. All six people sought medical attention, but no one required hospitalization.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Allergy Alert (Australia): The Market Grocer recalls The Market Grocer brand Raisins (Golden), Crimson Raisins, and Cranberry Fruit and Nut Mix (500g clear plastic packaging; All Best Before dates up to and including 30/11/2013; Manufactured in NSW with raw ingredient imported from Chile), due to undeclared sulphur dioxide. The recalled products were sold at Thomas Dux Grocers, Harris Farm Markets and other independent grocers in the ACT, NSW and VIC.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Outbreak Alert: The Public Health Agency of Canada warns travelers that cholera cases have been reported in Cuba since July 2012, and reminds Canadians that the Dominican Republic and Haiti have reported “thousands of cholera cases and related deaths” since  the beginning of the Haitian cholera epidemic in October 2010. Travelers should practice safe food and water precautions while visiting Cuba, Haiti or the Dominican Republic.

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 website.

*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: January 3, 2013

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: Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. (Chester, IL) recalls Food Club brand Chocolate Chunk Brownie Mix (12 x 14.25-oz cartons/case; Best by NOV 28 13 D02; UPC 36800-13486), because the product contains undeclared walnuts. The recalled Brownie Mix was distributed to an Abingdon, VA warehouse on December 5, 2012.

Canada

  • Outbreak Alert (New Brunswick): The province’s Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health is investigating five confirmed cases of E. coli O157, including two reported in the Saint John region and three in the Fredericton region. All five victims were seen in hospital emergency rooms; one person was admitted to hospital. It is not yet known whether all five cases have a common source, or whether they may be linked to several recent cases in neighboring Nova Scotia.
  • Outbreak Alert (British Columbia): An outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis prompted the shut-down of an entire floor of Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminister; one ward is expected to reopen today, according to CBC. A ward at Vancouver General Hospital remains “under containment” due to a separate outbreak of norovirus infections.

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall (Belgium): The recent recall of Koon Yick Wah Kee brand fermented bean curd products due to contamination with Bacillus cereus has been extended to include all of the following: Tofu in sesame oil (450g glass jar; Best before 30/12/2014, 30/06/2014 and 30/09/2014) and Tofu in sesame oil and peppers (450g glass jar; Best before 30/12/2014, 30/06/2014 and 30/09/2014). The recalled products were sold in Asian specialty stores from August 2012 to December 2012, inclusive.
  • Food Safety Recall (Germany): Fromagerie de Jussac (France) recalls an extensive list of cheeses made from cow’s milk, goat milk and sheep milk (packaging includes 200g and 3 x 60g sizes), due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Please refer to the recall notice for a detailed product list.
  • Food Safety Notification Update (EU #2012.1774): Listeria monocytogenes in various Fromagerie de Jussac cheeses from France; distributed to Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2013.0002): Presence of poisonous mushrooms in dried black morels from the Czech Republic; distributed to Germany.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2013.0004): Carbendazim in oranges from South Africa; distributed to France.
  • Pet Food Safety Notification (EU #2013.0007): Salmonella in dried pet food for dogs from India; distributed to Germany and Luxembourg.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2013.0008): Ethephon in cherry tomatoes from Italy; distributed to Germany.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Chinese Medicine Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Hang Lung Trading Co. recalls the Chinese herbal medicine known as Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii (Batch #210035; Imported from Mainland), because it was found to be contaminated by solanaceous alkaloids.
  • Food Safety Notification Update (EU #2012.1774): Listeria monocytogenes in various Fromagerie de Jussac cheeses from France; distributed to Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

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 website.

*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: December 31, 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: Procesadora de Productos Marinos Delifish S.A. recalls Black Bear of the Black Forest Smoked Salmon (1 lb.; UPC 810230000493; Lots 249 thru 291), Food Service Cold Smoked Salmon Trim (1 lb.; Lots 249 thru 291), Einstein Darn Good (4 oz Retail package; UPC 099892315200, Lots 249 thru 291), Food Service Whole Smoked Side (3-5 lb.; Lots 249 thru 291), Silver Source Smoked Salmon Foodservice (2-3 lb. smoked fillet; Lots 249 thru 291), Royal Fjord Smoked Toppers (6oz; UPC 810230000561; Lots 249 thru 291), Royal Fjord Sliced Smoked Salmon Loin (12-14 oz.; Item # 42925; Lots 249 thru 291) and HEB smoked salmon (4 oz.; UPC 041220630417; Lots 249 thru 291), after Listeria monocytogenes is found in “a few” of the recalled batches. The recalled product, which was produced by Marine Harvest Chile S.A. for Delifish S.A. and distributed by Marine Harvest USA, LLC (Miami, FL), may have been sold in California, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.
  • Animal Feed Safety Recall: ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc. recalls MoorMan’s® ShowTec® 18 Elite Lamb DC (Product #80939MPS; Lots BF23512, BF27812, and BF29312), because the product has high levels of copper. The recalled sheep feed was shipped between Aug 24, 2012 and Nov 21, 2012 to distributors and customers in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
  • Outbreak Alert (Illinois): CBS reports that more than approximately 140 prisoners at Stateville Correctional Center have been infected with norovirus gastroenteritis. The source of the outbreak is under investigation.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Kinnikinnick Foods Inc. (Edmonton, AB) recalls Kinnikinnick Foods Pie Crusts (2 x 8″ pie crusts per 290g pkg; UPC 6 20133 00600 9; Best before 2013NO20, 2013NO21, 2013DE11, 2013DE14), due to undeclared egg. The recalled product was distributed in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, but may have been distributed nationally.

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall (Germany): Pilzversand Zollner recalls Dried Morels (100g; Best before 31.12.2014), because the product is contaminated with toxic mushrooms. The recalled Dried Morels were sold on eBay from between early October 2012 and December 23, 2012.
  • Food Safety Recall (Luxembourg): Fromagerie de Jussac recalls a range of cheeses made from cow’s milk, goat milk and sheep milk, due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled cheeses were sold between October 31, 2012 and December 26, 2012 under the following brands: Brique de Jussac, Brique du Forez, Brique d’Auvergne, Brique de la Besse, Brique de Pays (mixed goat and cow’s milk), and Gerbizon.
  • Food Safety Recall (Netherlands): Dupont Belgium and Fromagerie de Jussac (France) recall Jussac brand Brique lait de vache (250g), Brique lait de brebis (200g), Brique lait de chèvre (200g), Mini briques panachées and Gerbizon cheeses, due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. All of the recalled products carry Best before dates between 28/12/12 and 19/02/13, inclusive and were sold in EMTÉ, Jumbo, and wholesale Gligro supermarkets, and in cheese shops. No related illnesses have been reported in the Netherlands.
  • Food Safety Recall (Switzerland): Fromagerie de Jussac recalls Briques de Jussac (3 x 60g, brebis, chèvre, vache; Best before dates 09.01.2013, 12.01.2013, 23.01.2013; Item #2125.063.000), due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The recalled cheeses were sold in Migros stores in Genève, Vaud, Neuchâtel-Fribourg and Valais.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • OTC Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (Philippines): Pascual Laboratories recalls CALCHEWS Chocolate Flavor (Lot #382BWA & 382BWB; Expiry date 8/2014), due to contamination with Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus.
  • Food Safety Alert (Hong Kong): The Centre for Food Safety advises the public not to consume Shui Kou Preserved Chili Bean Curd (350g/bottle; Best before December 30, 2013; Product of Guangdong Province, China), due to contamination with high levels of Bacillus cereus.
  • Cosmetic Products Safety Alert (Philippines): The Philippines FDA advises the public that several unapproved cosmetic products containing levels of mercury above the allowable limit have entered the Philippine market . These products should be avoided. Please refer to the Update for a list of implicated products.
  • Outbreak Alert (Japan): The fatal norovirus epidemic at Yokohama Denentoshi Hospital has grown to 112 cases, according to The Japan Times. As of today, 82 patients and 30 staff members have been infected. Four elderly bed-ridden patients have died as a result of the infectious gastroenteritis outbreak.

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.