Tag: Food

Recalls and Alerts: December 28, 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.

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/Outbreak Alert: Green Cedar Dairy (Dearborn, MI) recalls All Natural Ackawi Cheese and All Natural Chives Cheese (approx. 14-oz squares, vacuum-sealed in clear plastic packages; All Sell by dates up to July 1, 2012), because the cheeses may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The Michigan Department of Community Health and the Wayne County Public Health Department are investigating two recent cases of listeriosis that may be linked to consumption of products from Green Cedar Dairy. As part of the investigation, The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development recovered Listeria monocytogenes in samples of the All Natural Chives Cheese that were collected at the Dairy. Green Cedar Dairy products were distributed to bakeries and retail stores in Michigan’s Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.
  • Pet Food Safety Recall: Petrus Feed and Seed Stores, Inc. (Alexandria, LA) recalls Petrus Feed 21% Protein Dry Dog Food (40-lb bags; Packaging date codes 4K1011 through 4K1307; Updated lot numbers 4K1011 through 4K1335), due to elevated levels of aflatoxin in the corn used to manufacture the dog food. The pet food was manufactured for Petrus at Cargill’s manufacturing facility in LeCompte, Louisiana between December 1, 2010 and December 1, 2011.
  • Pet Food Safety Recall: O’Neal’s Feeders Supply, Inc. recalls Arrowbrand 21% Dog Chunks (40-lb bag), Arrowbrand Super Proeaux Dog Food (40-lb bag) and Arrowbrand Professional Formula Dog Food (50-lb bag), because the corn it contains was found to have higher than acceptable levels of aflatoxin. The recall encompasses Packaging Date Codes 4K0341 through 4K0365 and 04K1001 through 4K1325, which were manufactured between December 1, 2010 and December 1, 2011. The recalled products were distributed in Louisiana and Texas.
  • Food Safety Recall Update: USDA releases updated retail distribution list for 10-lb chubs of Chuck Fine Ground Beef 80/20, recalled by Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. due to contamination with E. coli O157:H7.
  • FDA Warning Letters: FDA warns the following seafood processors and importers that recent inspections of their facilities revealed significant violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation and, in some cases, of the Current Good Manufacturing Practices regulation for foods: Four Star Import & Distribution, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY), Kencor Ethnic Foods, Inc. (Kenosha, WI), Beck’s Smokery (Pompano Beach, FL), United States Cold Storage, Inc. (Medley, FL), E and M Bakery, Inc. (Hialeah, FL), and Seven Seas Seafoods Inc. (Montebello, CA).
  • FDA Warning Letters: FDA warns the following dietary supplement manufacturers and distributors that recent inspections of their manufacturing, labeling and/or distribution facilities revealed serious violations of FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements (CGMP) regulations: Milk Specialties Global (Carpentersville, IL), Ion Labs, Inc. (Clearwater, FL), and Atlantic Pro Nutrients, Inc. dba Xymogen (Orlando, FL).
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Mikilua Poultry Farm Inc. (Honolulu, HI) that a September 2011 inspection of the company’s four shell egg production facilities revealed serious violations of the Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs During Production, Storage, and Transportation regulation (the shell egg regulation).
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Italian Rose Garlic Products, Inc. (Riviera Beach, FL) that an August 2011 inspection of the company’s facility revealed significant violations of the Acidified Food regulations, rendering the company’s acidified food products adulterated within the meaning of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and regulations.

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Enforcement (China): A court in Nanjing (Jiangsu province) has sentenced six butchers to jail terms of up to four years and fined them each up to 50,000 yuan after the butchers confessed to having knowingly sold pork meat contaminated with the chemical clenbuterol.

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: December 26, 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.

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: Green Valley Food Corp. (Dallas, TX) recalls additional sprout products (Use By date range of 12/22/2011 to 1/1/2012; Received or purchased from 12/07/2011 to 1/1/2012), because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The expanded list of recalled sprouts includes Let’s Grow Healthy Together! Alfalfa Sprouts (5-oz container; UPC 714722228818), Let’s Grow Healthy Together! Spicy Sprouts (5-oz container; UPC 71472222991), Alfalfa Sprouts (4-oz clamshell; UPC 815098001088), and 100% Natural Onion Sprouts (4-oz clamshell; UPC 815098002054). The recalled items were distributed in Texas to retail grocery stores and food distribution centers. At least some of the affected products were sold in Target (as many as 33 stores), Brookshire’s food & pharmacy, and Super 1 Foods & Discount Pharmacy stores. A portion of the recalled sprouts also were supplied to a U.S. Foods distribution center.
  • Food Safety Recall: Kradjian Imp Co. (Glendale, CA) recalls Cedar Brand Tresse Firm Unripened Cheese (16-oz; delivered before November 13, 2011; UPC 78546 01000), and Cedar Brand Shinglish Firm Unripened Cheese (16-oz; delivered before November 13, 2011; UPC 78546 10000), because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled cheeses were manufactured and recalled by Fromagerie Marie Kade (Quebec, Canada), and were distributed in Southern California to Mediterranean specialty markets.

Europe

  • Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (Spain): B. Braun Medical, S.A. recalls several Nutriflex Lipid products for infusion, because needle-like microscopic particles may develop in the products before the expiration date.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Alert (China): China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has detected excessive levels of aflatoxin in milk produced by Mengniu Dairy Group. The contaminated milk was produced at a Mengniu plant in the province of Sichuan, and was discovered before it was sold. According to Asia Pacific News, the contaminated milk never reached the retail market. Aflatoxin is produced by molds, and can be found in milk after cows consume moldy feed. Mengniu has destroyed the toxin-contaminated milk products.

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.

Profiling Cronobacter sakazakii (Enterobacter sakazakii)

Cronobacter sakazakii (formerly known as Enterobacter sakazakii) is a rare, though often fatal, cause of meningitis in newborns and infants.

Some history

Cronobacter sakazakii has gone through more than one name change. It was first described as a yellow-pigmented Enterobacter cloacae, then – in 1980 – assigned the species name Enterobacter sakazakii (Farmer, J.J. III, et al. 1980. Enterobacter sakazakii: A new species of “Enterobacteriaceae” isolated from clinical specimens. Internat. J. Systemic Bacteriol. 30(3): 569-584). The pathogen was linked to cases of neonatal meningitis for the first time in 1961 in a British report (Urmenyi, AM & Franklin, AW. 1961. Neonatal death from pigmented coliform infection. Lancet 1(7172): 313-315), and for the second time in a 1965 report from Denmark (Joker, R.N., et al. 1965. A case of neonatal meningitis caused by a yellow enterobacter. Dan. Med. Bull. 12:128-130).

What is Cronobacter sakazakii, and where is its natural habitat?

Cronobacter sakazakii is an opportunistic pathogen, affecting mainly newborns, and causes neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis and neonatal meningitis. In older infants, children and adults, it can cause sepsis and/or respiratory illness. The microbe has been found in many countries around the world, and has been recovered from Mexican fruit flies and the larvae of stable flies. It is found in food production facilities and households, and has been detected at low levels in powdered infant formulas in a number of countries.

How is Cronobacter sakazakii transmitted? What is the incubation period of the infection?

Cronobacter sakazakii infections of newborns have been traced to the use of reconstituted powdered infant formula, especially in hospital settings where formula is prepared in bulk and stored for several hours under refrigeration until needed. In neonatal intensive care units (NICU), feedings can take several hours, during which time the reconstituted formula remains at room temperature – a recipe for microbial multiplication. The incubation period for a Cronobacter sakazakii infection may be as short as one day or as long as three weeks; typically, infections show themselves within one week.

What illnesses are caused by Cronobacter sakazakii? How long does it take to develop?

Cronobacter sakazakii is a cause of necrotizing enterocolitis and meningitis in newborns. In older babies, children and adults, this opportunistic pathogen can cause respiratory infections and sepsis.

What are the symptoms of Cronobacter sakazakii infections?

Symptoms in newborns include fever, rapid heart rate, seizures and other neurological abnormalities.

What is the prognosis of Cronobacter sakazakii infections?

Cronobacter sakazakii infections are often fatal in newborns. The death rate has been reported to be as high as 40-80%.

What foods carry Cronobacter sakazakii?

Cronobacter sakazakii has been found at low levels in powdered infant formulas. It also can be found in water and the environment.

How can susceptible people protect themselves from infection?

The Illinois Department of Public Health offers the following advice:

Clean utensils

  • Wash hands, forearms and fingernails thoroughly before handling any feeding materials or preparing formula.
  • All bottles, nipples, caps and rings should be washed in hot, soapy water with thorough rinsing.

Preparing formula

  • Before use, powdered formula should be kept dry in an airtight container with a firm cap or lid and stored in a cool, dark area. Make sure the expiration date has not passed.
  • During formula preparation, bring water to a bubbling boil for two minutes and allow the water to cool before mixing.
  • Do not use a microwave oven to warm the formula.

Storing formula

  • Formula should be prepared in small amounts immediately before feeding time to minimize the need for storing reconstituted formula.
  • Reconstituted formula should not be stored at room temperature for more than one hour or more than four hours in the refrigerator after preparation.
  • Throw out any formula left in a bottle after feeding.

You can find more information on Cronobacter sakazakii and other food-borne pathogens in Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectives.