Tag: Health

Recalls and Alerts: August 19, 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: Ciolino Produce recalls Highline Mushrooms (227g/8-oz containers; Lot code L410805 followed by 4-digit time code; Best before 12AU15), after receiving notification from its supplier that the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled mushrooms were supplied by Highline Mushrooms (Leamington, ON, Canada) and held for sale at Ciolino Produce (Temperance, MI/Monroe, MI) on August 10, 2012 – August 12, 2012.
  • Food Safety Recall: 7th Heaven Gourmet (Hesperia, CA) recalls its Pate Mediterraneo and Eggplant & Shitake Tapenade spreads (8-oz glass jars with screw-on metal lids; no production or date codes),  because they may have been improperly produced, making them susceptible to contamination with Clostridium botulinum. The spreads were sold between September 2011 and July 2012 at the Victorville Farmers Market (Victor Valley College), Victorville, and the Victoria Garden Farmers Market, Rancho Cucamonga.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Outbreak Alert (Hong Kong): Nine female patients of a neurosurgical ward of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital developed symptoms of diarrhea since August 15th. Lab tests have confirmed norovirus in four of the patients; test results on the remaining five patients are pending. One staff member is on sick leave due to diarrhea. Infection control measures have been stepped up in the ward.
  • Outbreak Alert Update (Japan): Japan Times reports that seven people are dead and 103 have become ill with E. coli O157 after consuming a lightly pickled Chinese cabbage produced in late July by Iwai Shokuhin, a Sapporo-based company. Six of the dead were elderly women who were residents of nursing homes in Sapporo and another Hokkaido island city; the seventh was a 4-year old Sapporo girl. The source of the E. coli O157 contamination is still under investigation.

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: August 18, 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: Pure Hothouse Foods Inc. recalls 1402 cases and 8,412 individual units of Meijer Brand Grillers Mushroom with Rosemary Grilling Trays (Use by August 11th – August 26th 2012; UPC 7-08820-85464-2), Meijer Brand Grillers Steak Topper Grilling Trays (Use by August 11th – August 26th 2012; UPC 7-08820-85468-0), and Meijer Brand Grillers Asparagus Blend Grilling Trays (Use by August 11th – August 26th 2012; UPC 7-08820-85353-9), because they contain whole or sliced mushrooms which may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled products were produced and distributed from Pure Hothouse Foods Inc. in Leamington, Ontario, Canada to Meijer stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall: Canadian distributors are recalling Tanimura & Antle brand Romaine Lettuce (plastic package containing 1 head of lettuce; Product of USA; UPC 0 27918 20314 9), because the lettuce may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The recalled product was sold at retail from August 8, 2012 through August 17, 2012 in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Nunavut and Yukon.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Pharmaceutical Product Safety Recall (Philippines): Pfizer Consumer Healthcare recalls Carbocisteine (Loviscol) 50 mg/mL Oral Drops Syrup (Lot #11LID6, Exp Aug-14, 15mL; Lot #11LID8 & 11LID9, Exp Oct-14, 15mL; Lot #12LIDIA, Exp Dec-14, 15 mL; Lot #12LIDIB (samples only), Exp Dec-14, 5mL; Lot #12LID2, Exp Jan-15, 15mL), due to incorrect concentration declaration of the claim reflected in the formulation for both the carton and bottle labels of the product.
  • Outbreak Alert (Japan): Six people are dead, and 93 others are ill as a result of an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in Sapporo. The outbreak victims were infected after consuming pickled Chinese cabbage manufactured by the Sapporo-based company, Iwai Shokuhin. Many of the illnesses were reported at elderly care facilities in and around Sapporo.

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 website.

*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.

Salmonella Outbreak In 20 States Linked to Cantaloupe – Update

UPDATED August 17, 2012 @8:55pm with information released by CDC

Cantaloupes from Southwestern Indiana are believed to be the source of a Salmonella typhimurium outbreak that has sickened 141 people in 20 states. Thirty-one people have been hospitalized, and Kentucky has reported two outbreak-associated deaths.

The Minnesota Department of Health reports that an unnamed farm in southwestern Indiana has initiated a “voluntary market withdrawal” and has stopped harvest of cantaloupes, after receiving notification that cantaloupes grown on the farm tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella.

FDA reports that outbreak illnesses occurred in Alabama (7), Arkansas (3), California (2), Georgia (1), Illinois (17), Indiana (13), Iowa (7), Kentucky (50), Michigan (6), Minnesota (3), Missouri (9), Mississippi (2), New Jersey (1), North Carolina (3), Ohio (3), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (1), and Wisconsin (2).

According to Charles Kendell with the Kentucky Department for Public Health, there were 137 reports of Salmonella in the state during July – twice the usual number for this time of year. Approximately 61% of confirmed cases reported exposure to cantaloupe and/or watermelon. Lab testing of clinical specimens from outbreak victims confirmed three different genetic strains of Salmonella typhimurium.

Tennessee’s six confirmed cases were scattered among several counties; three of the six victims in that state were hospitalized. The three Minnesota victims included one child and two adults over 70 years of age. No Minnesotans were hospitalized, and all three have recovered.

CDC reports that outbreak victims range in age from less than 1 to 92 years, with a median age of 49 years old. Illness onset dates are between July 7, 2012 to August 4, 2012. Nearly one-half (48%) of the people for whom information was available reported being hospitalized.

The pale blue shaded area in the Date of Illness Onset chart, provided by CDC, represents the time period within which illnesses may have occurred that have not yet been reported or confirmed by health authorities. THIS OUTBREAK IS FAR FROM OVER.

FDA offers the following advice to consumers:

  • Consumers who are buying or have recently bought cantaloupe should ask their retailer if the cantaloupe was grown in southwestern Indiana.
  • Throw away any cantaloupe from southwestern Indiana.
  • Do not try to wash the harmful bacteria off the cantaloupe as contamination may be both on the inside and outside of the cantaloupe. Cutting, slicing and dicing may also transfer harmful bacteria from the fruit’s surface to the fruit’s flesh.
  • WHEN IN DOUBT, THROW IT OUT!
  • Anyone who consumed cantaloupe and experiences any symptoms of Salmonella infection should consult a health care provider.