Category: produce

Recall Roundup: January 13, 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
  • Allergy Alert: Barry Callebaut USA LLC recalls Kroger Value Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips, 12 oz. (Best by dates: November 20, 2012, December 1, 2012, December 3, 2012 and December 4, 2012) because the product may contain undeclared milk protein. The recalled chocolate chips were sold in Kroger-owned stores, including Kroger, Dillon’s, Gerbes, Baker’s, Jay C, Hilander, Owen’s, Pay Less, Scott’s, Fred Meyer, Fry’s King Soopers, Smith’s, City Market, Foods Co., and Food 4 Less.
  • Food Recall: Price Chopper recalls Price Chopper 80% Ground Chuck (Sell by Jan 11) and Price Chopper 85% Ground Round (Jan 11), due to the possibility that a plastic utensil was ground into the beef. The recalled ground beef was sold at the Glen St. Price Chopper (Queensbury, NY) on Jan 11, between 1pm and 7:30 pm.
Canada

 

  • Alcohol Swab Alert: Health Canada advises Canadians that COPAXONE®, used in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, has been co-packaged in a kit produced by Teva with recalled alcohol prep pads manufactured by Triad. Teva is advising patients to continue their daily injection routine with Copaxone prefilled syringes, but to use alternative alcohol pads or bottled isopropyl alcohol (70%) with a cotton ball.

 

 

Europe
Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands
  • Food Safety Alert (China): China State Council’s Food Safety Commission has reported that a total of 96 people are in police custody, awaiting prosecution, or in prison for illegally using melamine-tainted milk powder. This disclosure comes on the heels of a further crackdown (in process since July 2010) on the use of tainted milk powder.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Food Safety Recall (New Zealand): Living Foods recalls Pams Fresh Express Baby Spinach, Pams Fresh Cos Mix Salads, and Living Foods Baby Spinach Salads (Best before 12/01/2011 up to and including 19/01/2011), because Listeria was detected in the product. The recalled spinach-based salads were available through New World, PaknSave, 4 Square, Gilmours and independent retail fruit and vegetable shops and wholesalers throughout New Zealand.
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.

Recall Roundup: January 7, 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
  • Allergy Alert: Homestead Pasta Company (San Francisco, CA) recalls frozen meat and poultry tamale products because they contain undeclared whey. The recalled products were manufactured from April 2010 until January 2011 and shipped for retail sales in California, Oregon and Washington and for institutional use in California. The following brands and products are encompassed by this recall: Garibaldi Beef Tamale, Garibaldi Turkey Tamale, Golden West Traditional Beef Tamale With Sauce in Husk, Golden West Traditional Turkey Tamale With Sauce in Husk, Casper Homestead Pasta Company Beef Tamale, and Casper Homestead Pasta Company Chicken Tamale.
  • Food Safety Recall: Boncheff Greenhouses, Inc. (Toronto, ON) recalls Cilantro, Curly Parsley and Italian Parsley, following a recall initiated by J & D Produce (Edinburg, TX), because the herbs may be contaminated with Salmonella. Boncheff repacked and distributed the recalled herbs to Wegmans Food Markets in Erie, PA (two stores) and New York state (except Corning, Elmira, Ithaca and Johnson City). The Italian Parsley (lot code 1002387) also was supplied under the Boncheff Brand to Budwey Markets (2 stores), Wades Market, Cuba Giant Food Market and Hegedorn’s.
  • Food Safety Recall: Columbus Meat Market Inc. (Chicago, IL) recalls ground beef patties that were supplied to food-handling establishments in the Chicago area (Est 755; Pack date 12/27/10), after the Illinois Department of Agriculture finds E. coli O157:H7 in a sample of the meat.
  • Food Safety Recall (Update): Top Food & Drug and Winco Foods advise their customers that clover and clover mix sprouts (available in stores of both chains) were recalled by Sprouters Northwest, Inc. after consumption of the sprouts was linked to several cases of Salmonella illnesses in Washington and Oregon.
  • Topical OTC Product Safety Recall: Topco Associates recalls Top Care brand alcohol swabs and alcohol prep pads manufactured by Triad Group, because the products may be contaminated with Bacillus cereus. The recalled Top Care swabs and pads were sold by the following retail store chains: Brookshire’s Food & Pharmacy, Food City, Giant Eagle, Super1Foods, Top Food & Drug, Tops Friendly Markets, and Wegmans. The recalled alcohol pads and swabs also were sold in Meijer stores (under the Meijer brand name) and under the Kroger store brand in stores belonging to the Kroger, Baker’s, City Market, Dillons, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s Gerbes, Jay C, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs, and Smith’s chains.
Europe

Australia and New Zealand

  • Medical Device Safety Advisory (Australia): Abbott Diabetes Care has issued a Safety Advisory on Optium Pount of Care Glucose Test Strips 100s, Optium Glucose Test Strips 100s, and Optium Glucose Test Strips 10s, because the affected test strips may give falsely low blood glucose readings if exposed to high temperatures for extended periods of time. Please follow the live link to find the complete list of affected Lot Numbers. Abbott’s affected glucose test strips have been recalled or withdrawn in a number of countries worldwide.
Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Medical Device Safety Recall (Brazil): Abbott Laboratórios do Brasil Ltda recalls Optium Tiras Test, Optium Tiras Glicose Sangue OTC, and Optium Xceed Tiras POC CL, because the affected test strips may give falsely low blood glucose readings. This recall is part of a worldwide recall of glucose test strips initiated by Abbott.
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.

Laos Cuisine – Part 1

One of the “Great Rivers” of Asia, the Mekong meanders through land-locked Laos before entering Cambodia and then Vietnam, eventually evolving into the famous Mekong Delta and emptying into the South China Sea. The original name of the river – Mae Nam Khong – means “mother of all rivers”, and this (approximately) 4,350 km (2,700 mile) waterway truly is a life-giver to the Lao people (data from Wikipedia).


The Mekong River supplies fish to eat, water for drinking, washing and irrigation, and sediment to fertilize river-side vegetable gardens.


There is one more important element of Lao life that is furnished by the Mekong – riverweed.

A freshwater equivalent of seaweed, riverweed grows abundantly the Mekong, giving the river its green color. It is a grassy waterplant that wafts in the river currents just below the surface of the water.

Harvesting riverweed is easy. One simply needs to take a boat out on the river, navigate to a clump of riverweed, reach over the side of the boat and pull it on board.

Once gathered, the riverweed is used in several ways. Most often, fresh riverweed is laid onto bamboo racks in thin sheets and dried in the sun. The dried riverweed is sometimes broken into pieces, sprinkled with salt or sesame seeds, deep-fried and used as a snack. But it has other uses.

Here, dried riverweed mats are used as to display fish in the Luang Prabang street market.


Fresh riverweed is sold in bulk by a vendor in the Luang Prabang morning street market. Her customer will probably use her riverweed in a soup.


Another vendor offers riverweed in a more convenient package – compressed into large blocks for easy handling.


No matter how riverweed is used, this versatile product of the Mekong is one of the more unusual agricultural products of Laos.