Recalls and Alerts: September 5 – 7, 2019

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

Public Health Alert: FDA advises consumers to avoid yellowfin tuna from Kroger stores in AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MO, MS, NE, OH, SC, TN, VA and WV (Sell by dates August 29, 2019 to September 14, 2019) due to reports of scromboid poisoning.

Food Safety Recall: House of Spices (India) recalls MDH SAMBAR MASALA (3.5 oz/100g; Lots 47, 48 & 107; Expiration dates Dec 2021, Dec 2021, Nov 2021 respectively; UPC 6291103750327) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall: BCI Foods, Inc. recalls approximately 3,304 pounds of meat and poultry soup products that were not presented for import re-inspection. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.

Food Safety Recall: Conagra Brands recalls Udi’s Classic Hamburger Buns (8-pack/10.4ozBag closure code 191971U; Item UPC 00-6-98997-80913-5) due to potential foreign matter (small pieces of white plastic) contamination.

Canada

Allergy Alert: 9355936 Canada Inc. recalls The Good Diet (TGD) brand Protein Meal Excellent Sloppy Joe (5-count; All date codes; UPC 0657258 923812) and The Good Diet (TGD) brand Protein Meal Delicious Chili (5-count; All date codes; UPC 657258 92429) due to undeclared soy.

Food Safety Recall (Update): Maître Saladier Inc. recalls St-Hubert brand Chicken Breast Nuggets (680g; All lot codes beginning with B19084, B29084, & B39084: UPC 0 66701 00504 1) due to foreign matter (bone fragments) contamination.

Food Safety Recall: Saucisses et Salami Mondial recalls JAMBON PARISIEN / Parisian ham and JAMBON PARISIEN au dijon / with dijon mustard (150g, sliced; All units with Best before dates up to and including 20 September 2019) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Europe

OUTBREAK ALERT (NORWAY): The Public Health Institute, Food Safety Authority and other federal and municipal agencies are investigating three cases of a single variant of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli to determine whether there is a common source for the infections.

OUTBREAK ALERT – DOGS (NORWAY): The Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Veterinary Institute are investigating an outbreak of severe diarrhea and vomiting in dogs. Autopsies conducted on three of the dogs have revealed severe bowel disease. Two different pathogenic bacteria – Clostridium perfringens and Providencia – have been recovered from the autopsied dogs. A definite cause of the illnesses has not yet been determined and the source has not been discovered. No human illnesses relating to this outbreak have been reported.

Allergy Alert (Belgium): Albert Heijn recalls Albert Heijn brand AH Linzenburger / AH Lentil burger (200g; Best before 20-09-2019) due to undeclared oat gluten.

Allergy Alert (Denmark): ALDI Danmark recalls Mama Mancini Lasagne (1kg; Best before 18.09.2019) due to lack of Danish allergen declaration resulting in undeclared milk, wheat flour and eggs.

Allergy Alert (Netherlands): Jumbo recalls Jumbo Cashews (200g; Best before 12-2019) due to undeclared peanuts.

Allergy Alert (Netherlands): Jumbo recalls Jumbo Salmon Salad (140g; Best before 18-09-2019) due to undeclared fish and celery.

Allergy Alert (Netherlands): Albert Heijn recalls Albert Heijn brand AH Linzenburger / AH Lentil burger (200g; Best before 20-09-2019) due to undeclared oat gluten.

Food Safety Recall (Belgium): Albert Heijn recalls Albert Heijn brand AH Maaltijdsalade Tonijn / AH Tuna Meal Salad (450g; Best before 07+08+09/09/2019) due to Listeria contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Nordic Food Partners A/S recalls Rema 1000 brand loose rice in cooking bag (Best before 22.04.2021 & 23.05.2021) due to insect infestation.

Food Safety Recall (France): SCHNEIDER FOOD recalls Traiteur Schneider brand Garniture pour Flammekueche (500g, 2.5kg & 5Kg; All batch codes) Garniture pour Flammekueche Extra-Crémeuse (475g; All batch codes) and Flamm’Kit (All batch codes) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): Intermarché and Coursesu recall COMPTOIRS DES AFFINEUR brand Bethmale au lait cru / raw milk cheese (various lots and Best before dates) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected batch codes.

Food Safety Recall (France): Géantcasino and Coursesu recall COMPTOIRS DES AFFINEUR brand Bethmale au lait cru / raw milk cheese (various lots and Best before dates) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected batch codes.

Food Safety Recall (Italy): Polo Nord Ice Cubes S.r.l. recalls Ghiaccio alimentare a cubetti / ice cubes (2Kg bag; Lot #9057; Best before 31/08/2020) due to elevated E. coli levels.

Food Safety Recall (Netherlands): Jan Linders recalls Half-to-half Spiced Chopped meat (300g; Batch/lot code XX-1935602; Best before 09/09/2019) due to foreign matter (blue plastic) contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Spain): SABORES DE PATERNA S.C.A. recalls various Sabores de Paterna brand meat products due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Please refer to the recall notice for a list of affected products.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

Allergy Alert (Singapore): Angliss Singapore Pte Ltd recalls Funky Fields brand Organic Vegan Spreadable (225g; Best before 21-02-2020 & 06-03-2020; Product of Denmark) due to undeclared milk.

Australia and New Zealand

Allergy Alert (Australia): The Gluten Free Food Co. recalls Gluten Free Vegan Mac N Cheez original cheez and Gluten Free Food Co Vegan Mac n Cheez Cheez n Chive (200g; Batch code 1909401; Best before 17/10/20, 19/12/20, 18/12/20) due to undeclared milk.

Allergy Alert (New Zealand): Multigoods Ltd recalls Haidilao brand Butter Hot Pot Seasoning (500g; All batches) due to undeclared sesame.

Food Safety Recall (Australia): Coles Supermarkets recalls Coles Brand Fresh Full Cream Milk (2L; Use by 13 September 2019) due to chemical contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Australia): Metcash recalls Community Co Black Peppercorn Grinder (50gm; All stock), Community Co Pink Himalayan Salt Grinder (115gm; All stock) and Community Co Sea Salt Grinder (50gm; All stock) due to foreign matter (plastic fragments) contamination.

FDA finds pathogens in Aunt Jeni’s dog foods. Warns pet owners

FDA is warning consumers to avoid feeding certain lots of two Aunt Jeni’s raw, frozen dog foods to their pets, due to possible contamination with Salmonella and/or Listeria monocytogenes.

The warning comes after the agency detected the pathogens in samples of the dog food analyzed as part of a routine inspection of the company’s production facility.

The recalled products

Aunt Jeni’s Home Made, Turkey Dinner Dog Food (5 lb / 2.3kg; lot 175199 JUL2020)
Aunt Jeni’s Home Made, Chicken Dinner Dog Food (5 lb / 2.3kg; lot 1152013 JUL2020)

The Turkey Dinner sample tested positive for Salmonella Infantis. The Chicken Dinner sample tested positive for both Salmonella Infantis and Listeria monocytogenes.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture issued a stop sale for these products on August 20, 2019, preventing their further distribution.

Aunt Jeni’s Home Made products are sold frozen, and are available on-line and through retail locations. The company is based in Temple Mount, Maryland.

The health implications

Salmonella can cause gastrointestinal illness in both people and their pets. In many cases, dogs may become infected and may shed Salmonella in their feces without showing any outward symptoms.

Common symptoms of Salmonella in people include diarrhea, low-grade fever, and abdominal cramps lasting several days. Dogs may experience vomiting, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), loss of appetite, and/or decreased activity.

Although many Salmonella infections are relatively mild and self-limiting, children and the elderly are especially susceptible to the effects of dehydration resulting from diarrhea.

Listeria monocytogenes does not often cause illness in dogs, but occasionally can do so. Typical symptoms may include mild to severe diarrhea; anorexia; fever; nervous, muscular and respiratory signs; abortion; depression; shock; and death.

Dogs that are infected but asymptomatic are still able to pass their infection along to human handlers.

Children, the elderly, pregnant woman, and individuals with weakened immune systems are especially susceptible to severe symptoms as a result of a Listeria monocytogenes infection.

What consumers should do

If you have any of the affected product, stop feeding it to your pets and throw it away in a secure container where other animals, including wildlife, cannot access it. If you have had this product in your home, you should clean refrigerators/freezers where the product was stored and clean and disinfect all bowls, utensils, food prep surfaces, pet bedding, toys, floors, and any other surfaces that the food or pet may have had contact with.
If you think you have symptoms of Salmonella or L. monocytogenes infection, consult your health care provider.
People who think their pets have become ill after consuming contaminated pet food should first contact their veterinarians. Veterinarians who wish to have pets tested for Salmonella may do so through the Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN) if the pet is from a household with a person infected with Salmonella.
FDA encourages consumers to report complaints about pet food products electronically through the Safety Reporting Portal. This information helps FDA further protect human and animal health.

Pig ear treats from Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia implicated in four-year long Salmonella outbreak

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 143 reports of Salmonella infections linked to contact with contaminated pig ear dog treats from South America.

The Salmonella outbreak, which has been underway since 2015, is responsible for 33 hospitalizations. Twenty-six of the outbreak victims are children under the age of five.

Outbreak details

Outbreak cases have been reported from 35 states, including: Alabama (1), Arizona (1), California (1), Colorado (3), Connecticut (1), Florida (3), Georgia (3), Hawaii (1), Illinois (10), Indiana (5), Iowa (23), Kansas (3), Kentucky (6), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (1), Massachusetts (4), Michigan (14), Minnesota (1), Missouri (7), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (3), New Mexico (1), New York (16), North Carolina (2), North Dakota (1), Ohio (8), Oregon (3), Pennsylvania (7), South Carolina (2), Texas (2), Utah (1), Virginia (1), Washington (1), Wisconsin (4).

Several different strains of Salmonella have been recovered from patients and from pig ear dog treats from Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. Both bulk and packaged treats may be contaminated with one or more of the outbreak strains.

Implicated products include both non-irradiated and irradiated treats. Irradiation, if carried out correctly, should kill Salmonella.

It is possible either that irradiated treats may have been commingled with non-irradiated treats, or that effective product irradiation may not have occurred for bulk products and for packaged or individually wrapped products, according to the US Food and Drug administration (FDA).

Salmonella serotypes I 4,[5],12:i:-, Cerro, Derby, Infantis, London, Newport, and Rissen have been recovered from outbreak patients, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. In addition, Salmonella serotypes Anatum, Brandenburg, Give, Livingstone, Panama, Seftenberg, Typhimurium, Uganda, and Worthington have been recovered from pig ear dog treat samples.

CDC is reviewing its database to determine whether any of these additional strains may also have been responsible for illnesses.

Recalls and Alerts

Investigations carried out by FDA and various state agencies have resulted product recalls by several companies, including: Lennox Intl Inc, Pet Supplies Plus, Dog Goods USA LLC, and Brutus & Barnaby LLC.

The recalls announced so far do not account for all of the 143 illnesses, according to CDC.

Twenty years ago, FDA initiated Import Alert 72-03 (Detention Without Physical Examination and Intensified Coverage of Pig Ears And Other Pet Treats Due To The Presence Of Salmonella) in response to an outbreak of Salmonella Infantis illnesses linked to pig ear dog treats from Canada.

The list of companies included under Import Alert 72-03 has expanded in the years since to include pig ears and other pet treats manufactured by one or more companies based in Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, Kyrgystan, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

As a result of its most recent investigations, FDA has added three companies to the Import Alert list: Custom Pet S.A.S. (Colombia), Suarko, SRL (Argentina) and Anabe Industria e Comercio de Proteinas (Brazil), and has intensified its sampling of imported pig ear dog treats.

Impact on animals

In addition to the human illnesses, eFoodAlert has learned that FDA is investigating 12 reports of animal illnesses. Pig ears from recalled product collected from homes with ill pets have been positive, but the connection with the outbreak strains has not been confirmed.

There are two reported possible human illnesses from cases where dogs were also ill, according to a spokesperson for FDA. However, there have not been any strain matches between human and pet isolates in the same household.

Situation in Canada

At the moment, there is no active outbreak investigation in Canada linked to pig ear dog treats, according to a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Canada has very specific requirements for the importation of pet chews from third companies. These products must be subjected to a heat treatment sufficient to destroy microbial and/or pathogenic organisms, including Salmonella.

Every shipment must be accompanied by a zoosanitary export certificate issued by the veterinary competent authority to attest the sanitary requirements as well as a certificate of analysis issued by an independent accredited laboratory from the country of origin, indicating test results for Salmonella and Enterobacteriaceae, according to a spokesperson for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

What should consumers do?

The FDA and CDC recommend that people avoid purchasing or feeding any pig ear pet treats at this time. This recommendation may change as more information becomes available.
If you think you have symptoms of Salmonella infection, consult your health care provider.
People who think their pets have become ill after consuming contaminated pet food should first contact their veterinarians. Veterinarians who wish to have pets tested for Salmonellamay do so through the Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN Network) if the pet is from a household with a person infected with Salmonella.
FDA encourages consumers to report complaints about pet food products electronically through the Safety Reporting Portal. This information helps FDA further protect human and animal health.