The infections are believed to have been due to consumption of Soft Serve On The Go ice cream, manufactured by Real Kosher Ice Cream of Brooklyn, NY.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recovered Listeria monocytogenes from an unopened container of Soft Serve On The Go ice cream stored in the freezer of one of the two outbreak victims.
The second victim is believed to have consumed the product at a long-term care facility where they live.
DNA fingerprinting is underway to determine whether the strain recovered from the ice cream is a genetic match to the ones from the two outbreak victims.
The manufacturer has initiated a recall of all flavors of Soft Serve On The Go 8-oz cups, has temporarily ceased all production, and is cooperating with the US Food and Drug Administration’s effort to determine the source of the contamination.
The recalled products were supplied to retailers in California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The products also were distributed in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and The United Kingdom.
CDC’s Advice to Consumers, Care-givers and Businesses
What Everyone Should Do:
Do not eat “Soft Serve On The Go” ice cream cups.
Check your freezers. Listeria can survive at freezing temperatures.
Throw them away or return them to where you bought them for a refund.
If you have any questions, contact the company at 845-668-4346 or info@softserveonthego.com (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5 pm EST).
Call a healthcare provider right away if you have these symptoms after eating the ice cream:
Pregnant people usually have fever, muscle aches, and tiredness.
People who are not pregnant usually have fever, muscle aches, and tiredness. They may also get a headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or seizures.
What Long-Term Care Facilities, Hospitals, and Businesses Should Do
Do not sell or serve “Soft Serve On The Go” ice cream cups.
Listeria Symptoms
Listeria is especially harmful to people who are pregnant, aged 65 or older, or with weakened immune systems. This is because Listeria is more likely to spread beyond their gut to other parts of their body, resulting in a severe condition known as invasive listeriosis.
For people who are pregnant, Listeria can cause pregnancy loss, premature birth, or a life-threatening infection in their newborn.
For people who are 65 years or older or who have a weakened immune system, Listeria often results in hospitalization and sometimes death.
Symptoms usually start within 2 weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria but may start as early as the same day or as late as 10 weeks after.
Pregnant people usually have fever, muscle aches, and tiredness.
People who are not pregnant usually have fever, muscle aches, and tiredness. They may also get a headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or seizures.
“Reads like a true crime novel” – Food Safety News
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Click on the link to listen to a short excerpt, then follow the buy links to add a digital, print or audio copy to your personal library.
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.
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TOXIC
From Factory To Food Bowl PET FOOD IS A RISKY BUSINESS
Enjoy the slideshow as you listen to a sample of TOXIC, narrated by the author.
“A complete and compelling account of the hidden and not-so-hidden ways the food we give our beloved pets can be contaminated.” – JoNel Aleccia, Health Reporter, Food & Nutrition, The Associated Press.
Available from all major on-line retailers, including:
OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION: FDA is investigating a new outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes illnesses, the source of which has not yet been identified. Two people have been infected.
Food Safety Recall/Outbreak Alert: Real Kosher Ice Cream recalls SOFT SERVE ON THE GO CUPS (8 oz; All flavors; All product produced up to 8/4/23) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The recalled ice cream has been linked to two cases of Listeria monocytogenes illnesses in New York and Pennsylvania. Both victims were hospitalized. The recalled products were distributed in CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, IL, MA, MD, MI, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, VA, WV.
Allergy Alert:Bickel’s Snack Foods, Inc. recalls Butter Flavored Popcorn (8-ounce clear plastic bags; Lot codes / Use by dates 20 NOV 23 Z4 E1 & 27 NOV 23 Z4 E1; UPC 70175 06021) due to undeclared milk.
Public Health Alert: FSIS issues public health alert for fresh salads and wraps with meat and poultry due to possible lettuce contamination with deer feces. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.
Food Safety Recall: David Oppenheimer and Company I LLC recalls Zespri organic green kiwifruit (1-lb clamshells; shipped between June 14, 2023 and July 7, 2023; UPC 8 18849 02009 3) due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The recalled product was sold in retail locations in FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MI, NC, NY, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WI only.
Food Safety Recall: E.N.A. Meat Packing Inc. recalls approximately 58,721 pounds of frozen, raw halal beef tripe, beef feet, and lamb tripe products that were produced without the benefit of federal inspection. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.
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Canada
Allergy Alert:Marché Hochelaga (Montréal, QC) recalls Salade de macaroni / Macaroni salad (Sold up to 8 August 2023) due to undeclared wheat, eggs and mustard, and recalls Salade de choux crémeuse / Creamy coleslaw (Sold up to 8 August 2023) due to undeclared eggs and mustard.
Food Safety Recall: TREATS R US recalls Raze Energy brand Caffeinated Energy Drinks (All flavours which contain caffeine and do not have bilingual (English and French) labelling) due to various non-compliances related to caffeine content and labelling requirements.
Food Safety Recall: Mimimelon (Montréal, QC) recalls multiple products (Sold up to 4 August 2023) due to improper preparation and/or packaging. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.
Food Safety Recall: Poissonnerie de la Mitis inc. (Mont-Joli, QC) recalls various smoked fish products that lack correct storage temperature labeling. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.
Food Safety Recall: Les produits Pas Poche (Sherbrooke, QC) recalls various kombucha products due to possible Hepatitis A virus contamination. Please refer to the recall notice for a complete list of affected products.
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Europe
Allergy Alert (Belgium): Albert Heijn recalls AH brand craquelins / crackers (Best before 16-02-2024) due to undeclared milk and hazelnuts.
Allergy Alert (Belgium): Vleeswaren De Keyser NV recalls Jumbo brand Salami de dinde / Turkey salami (100g; Lot 208250; Use by 31/08/2023, 04/09/2023, 07/09/2023) due to undeclared milk protein.
Allergy Alert (France): LIDL recalls Sweet Corner Ficeli qui piquent !!! Fils citriques 4 parfums / 4-flavour citric threads (180g; Lot 093143/3; Best before 30/11/2024) due to undeclared sulphites.
Allergy Alert (Italy): LE COTTE SRL recalls HUMMUS senza aglio / Garlic-free hummus (300g; Lots 212e, 214e, 216e, 219e) due to absence of allergen declaration.
Allergy Alert (Netherlands): Albert Heijn recalls AH brand craquelins / crackers (Best before 16-02-2024) due to undeclared milk and hazelnuts.
Allergy Alert (Netherlands): Heks’nkaas BV recalls HEKS’NKAAS® origineel (150g; Best before 23-08-2023) due to undeclared egg, milk, and mustard.
Food Safety Recall (France): ARRIVE SAS recalls MAITRE COQ brand Ailerons de dinde / Turkey wings (Lot 531981992100; Use by dates between 30/07/2023 and 31/07/2023) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
Food Safety Recall (France): ARRIVE SAS recalls Neutre Ailerons de dinde / Turkey wings (Lot 531981992100; Use by 30/07/2023) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
Food Safety Recall (Iceland): Veganmatur ehf. recalls Shicken Butter Curry (Lot 05217; Best before 09.08.2023; Product of United Kingdom) due to foreign matter contamination (metal part).
Food Safety Recall (Italy): Birko S.r.l. recalls multiple products due to foreign matter contamination (pieces of metal). Please refer to the recall site for a complete list of affected products.
Food Safety Recall (Norway): UNIL recalls Folkets Skinkestek / Sliced Ham steak (90g; Lots 33110027 & 33150016; Use by 28.08.2023 & 01.09.2023, respectively) and Folkets Roastbiff / Sliced Roast beef (90g; Lot 33110105; Use by 28.08.2023) due to possible Listeriacontamination.
Food Safety Recall (Sweden): Axfood recalls Falkenberg Seafood kallrökt lax i bit / Cold-smoked salmon pieces (200g; All Best before dates) due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
Food Safety Recall (UK): Dri Pak recalls Dri Pak Table Salt (750g; Batch codes 3205 and 3206) and East & West Cooking Salt (1.5 kg; Batch codes 3201 and 3202) due to foreign matter contamination (small pieces of plastic).
Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands
Food Safety Recall (Singapore): Singapore Food Agencyorders importers to recall eggs imported from LCC “Yasensvit” farm in Ukraine (Farm code CEUA001; All batches) due to Salmonella Enteritidis contamination.
“Reads like a true crime novel” – Food Safety News
Interested in learning more about food safety and the history of foodborne disease outbreaks and investigations?
Click on the link to listen to a short excerpt, then follow the buy links to add a digital, print or audio copy to your personal library.
Here’s what the nutrition information on a pet food label looks like now.
Pet food labels follow the regulations for animal feed, not human food.
This might have made sense when dogs and cats were on their own to hunt or be fed household scraps, but it makes no sense at all now that pets are considered members of the family—fur babies.
The agreed-upon changes have to be incorporated into state regulations, and manufacturers need time to adopt them. Everybody gets 6 years to do this, although some companies will undoubtedly start using the new rules right away.
The changes will be in four areas of the labels:
Nutrition Facts Box – Updated to resemble human-food labeling more closely. This will be a Pet Nutriton Facts panel.
Intended Use Statement – Updated to new location on the lower-third of the front display panel to help consumers easily identify the purpose of the pet food.
Ingredient Statement – Updated to clarify the use of consistent terminology and allow parentheticals and common or usual names for vitamins.
This is a great step forward. One reason why I think so is that the new Pet Nutrition Facts label is exactly what Mal Nesheim and I recommended in our book, Feed Your Pet Right.
That book came out in 2010; these rules go into effect in 2029.
It pays to be patient—and to persist!
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor, of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, which she chaired from 1988-2003 and from which she officially retired in September 2017. She is also Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley, and has been awarded honorary degrees from Transylvania University in Kentucky (2012) and from the City University of New York’s Macaulay Honors College (2016).
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