Category: Salmonella

Recalls and Alerts: January 24, 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

  • Consumer Product Safety Recall: Lee Carter Co. (San Francisco, CA) recalls Super Luchamania Action Figures (Manufactured in Mexico; sold from June 2000 through October 2011), because the surface paint on the figures contains excessive levels of lead.
  • Outbreak Alert: The Iowa Department of Public Health advises the public that reports of norovirus outbreaks have been increasing in recent weeks.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Blount Seafood Corporation (Fall River, MA) that a November/December 2011 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility revealedserious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods.
Canada
  • Consumer Product Safety Recall: Deejay Jewellery Inc. (Montreal, QC) recalls various Impulse! & Co. and Party Princess Children’s Jewellery (Manufactured in China; sold in Canada from January 2005 to December 2011), because the recalled items may contain lead in excess of the allowable limits and may contain cadmium in excess of guidance levels proposed recently by Health Canada.

Europe

  • Allergy Alert (France): Société Soufflet Alimentaire recalls Carrefour brand Fusilli Pesto (200g Doypack; Lot #2 E355; Best before 12/2012), due to the presence of undeclared traces of peanuts.
  • Food Safety Recall (UK): Iceland recalls Frozen Lamb Mince (454g; Best before 11 October 2012), because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.
  • Food Safety Recall (Ireland): Wicklow Farmhouse Cheese Ltd. recalls Wicklow Blue Irish Farmhouse Cheese “mild creamy blue-veined brie cheese” (150g; Batch #11326B; Best before 31/01/2012), due to the detection of a high level of Listeria monocytogenes.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Gert Nielsen recalls “Rørt Fars” (Produced 17.01.12; Best before 18.01.12), due to Salmonella contamination. The recalled product was supplied to caterers and canteens east of the Great Belt.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0124): Escherichia coli in mussels from Italy, with raw material from Spain; distributed to Italy.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Alert (Israel): The Ministry of Health warns the public not to purchase or consume Power Coffee (Manufactured in China; Marketed by MM Marketing and Distribution Limited), after lab tests detected the presence of the pharmacologically active ingredient hydroxythiohomosildenafil, an analogue of the active agent in the prescription drug Viagra.
  • Food Safety Enforcement Action (Israel): The Tel Aviv District Health Office has ordered the closing of the Carmel Food Industries manufacturing plant in Bat Yam, after the plant was found to be operating under poor sanitary conditions and without a business license. The company is suspected of manufacturing fake olive oil, honey and other food products.
  • Outbreak Alert (Zimbabwe): The Washington Post reports that more than 660 people have been treated for typhoid in Harare, Zimbabwe since November 2011. The outbreak appears to be waning.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Dietary Supplement Safety Alert (Australia): The Therapeutic Goods Administration warns Australians that Miraculous Evil Root Tablets are illegal in Australia, as they contain elevated levels of the undeclared prescription drug sildenafil (active ingredient in Viagra).

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: January 23, 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: Jones’ Seasoning Blends LLC (University Place, WA) recalls Jones’ Mock Salt Original: Organic Salt Free Seasoning (1.6-oz bottles, 12-oz bags, and 16-oz bags) and Jones’ Mock Salt Spicy Southwest Blend: Organic Salt Free Seasoning (1.6-oz bottles), after the supplier of the celery seeds used in the Jones’ seasonings recalled their celery seeds due to possible Salmonella contamination. The recalled Jones’ products were distributed directly to grocery stores and markets in California, Minnesota and Washington, and were sold over the internet on the http://www.jonesmocksalt.com web site. The recall affects all products purchased from July 1, 2011 to December 14, 2011. (NOTE: This probably relates to the recall of celery seeds announced on December 14, 2011 by Starwest Botanicals)

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: Earthly Goodness recalls Earthly Goodness Golden Apple Nut Free Organic Bar (47g; All codes), due to the presence of undeclared tree nuts. The recalled products were sold through retailer in Ontario.

Europe

  • Food Safety Recall (Finland): Gunnar Dafgård Ab recalls Enebacken Kvalitet & Smak Meatballs (1kg pkgs; Best before 02/02/2012 and 03/02/2012), due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
  • Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Lidl Denmark K/S recalls Freshona whole mushrooms (400g cans; Best before 31.12.2014), due to swelling of the cans, indicating possible bacterial growth due to inadequate heat treatment during manufacture.
  • Contact Lens Safety Recall (France): Johnson & Johnson Vision Care recalls Acuvue Oasys contact lenses (Lot #001RJ5, L001RJ8 and L001RJ9), due to a residual of diluent on the lenses that exceeds manufacturing standards. Consumers are urged to stop wearing the recalled lenses and to return them to the pharmacy for an exchange.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0113): Methidathion in honey pomeloes from China, via the Netherlands; distributed to Germany.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0114): Bulging cans containing Freshona brand whole mushrooms from Poland; distributed to Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
  • Food Supplement Safety Notification (EU #2012.0115): Excessive vitamin D in vitamin D drops from Belgium; distributed to the Netherlands.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0116): Aflatoxins in raw milk from Hungary; distributed to Italy.
  • Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0121): Prohibited nitrofurazone in honey from New Zealand; distributed to the United Kingdom.

Australia and New Zealand

  • Food Safety Recall (Australia): Gippsland Sprout Co. recalls Gippsland Sprout Co. Salad – Alfalfa, Onion and Mung Bean mix (120g plastic clam shell-shaped package; Use by 23 Jan), and Flowerdale Farm Alfalfa Salad Sprouts – Alfalfa, Onion and Mung Bean mix (120g plastic clam shell-shaped package; Use by 23 Jan0, due to contamination with E. coli. The recalled sprouts were distributed at the Melbourne Wholesale Fruit & Vegetable Market (Footscray), small grocery stores, and green grocers in Victoria only.

Latin America and the Caribbean

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.

Update: Belgian Infant Formula Blamed for Sick Russian Babies

UPDATE #1:

AFSCA, the Belgian food safety authority, announced today (January 23rd) that powdered milk imported from Belgium was believed responsible for infecting infants in the north of Russia with Salmonella Oranienburg. AFSCA reports that just one production lot comprising 19 tonnes was implicated; 16 tonnes were shipped to Russia, and the remaining 3 tonnes – mixed together with other production lots – were supplied to several third-world countries. None of the contaminated milk powder was sold in Belgium, or in any other European country.

AFSCA has inspected the manufacturing facility and is confident that all necessary measures have been taken to prevent a reoccurrence of the contamination.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE (posted January 22, 2012)

Implicated dry milk formula also shipped to Haiti and to several African countries.

Powdered infant formula manufactured by a Belgian company is responsible for 16 cases of salmonellosis in Usolie (Omsk, Irkutsk, Russia), according to a report carried on ProMED mail. The illnesses occurred between November 2, 2011 and January 13, 2012.

Thirteen of the outbreak victims were children aged 2 weeks to 7 months; one was a 4-year old child, and two victims were adults aged 24 and 29 years. All sixteen confirmed victims were infected with Salmonella Oranienburg.

The implicated milk was identified as “Damil a” dry milk formula. It was manufactured in Belgium by FASSKA S.A., and distributed in the Russian Federation by JSC “STI Damil” (Moscow). The implicated batch of dry milk formula carried a date of manufacture of 01.2011.

The Russian distributor has recalled the dry milk formula, which was supplied to wholesale suppliers, large retail chains, pharmacies and health care institutions. In addition, Baku Today reports that the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Irkutsk region has instituted proceedings under Article 2h 238 of the Criminal Code, on the grounds that the “production, storage, transport or marketing of goods and products do not meet the requirements of security.”

Belgium has notified the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (“RASFF” – Notification #2012.0094, issued 17/01/2012 and updated 20/01/2012) that dry milk infant formula linked to an outbreak of Salmonella Oranienburg was supplied to Burundi, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Haiti, Mozambique and the Russian Federation. I have been unable to find any reports of Salmonella Oranienburg illnesses from countries other than Russia.

As usual, the official public notification through RASFF did not identify the manufacturer or brand of the product for which the foodborne outbreak alert was issued. But the coincidence is compelling.

Fasska distributes its products worldwide, and boasts that attention to quality is a “constant obsession that guides each action made and decision taken…” within the company. A statement explaining what steps the company was taking to get to the bottom of the contamination and prevent a reoccurrence would be appropriate – as would a statement from the Belgian government that it was undertaking an investigation of the manufacturing facility.

Russian consumers who have purchased the dry milk powder infant formula have been instructed to return it to the place of purchase and to inform the Omsk region Rospotrebnadzor (regulatory authority).