Recalls and Alerts: October 25-26, 2022

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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Chapter 6. Birth of a Pathogen

United States

OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION: FDA releases its weekly outbreak investigation update, including a new investigation into 10 cases of E. coli O157:H7 for which no specific food source has yet been identified.

OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION UPDATE: FDA reports a total of 393 Adverse Event reports and Consumer Complaints relating to the consumption of Daily Harvest brand French Lentil & Leek Crumbles. Complaints include reports of gastrointestinal illness and liver, bile duct, and/or gallbladder illness.

PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT: The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PADoA) is warning consumers to discard raw whole milk or chocolate milk sold in Dauphin County and other southcentral Pennsylvania retail stores under the BeiHollow label between October 12 and 21 and BeiHollow pasteurized cheese melt and cup cheese sold between September 20 and October 21, due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Please refer to the PADoA notice for additional details.

Allergy Alert: Sotto i Trulli INC/DBA Bombolo Biscotti recalls Assorted Italian Cookies (16-oz pkg; Lot 092222; Expiry date 04/05/2023; UPC 852158002272) due to undeclared walnuts.

Allergy Alert: Seed Ranch Flavor Co. recalls Umami Everyday Sauce (5 oz; Lots 010821, 020921, 030821, 051721, 081821, 120321, 012022, 031422, 042522, 081822, 092022; UPC 8-67732-00032-2), Savory Spice Umami Everyday Sauce (5 oz; Lots 120122 & 062521; UPC 8-50000-72724-3) and Everything But The Sushi & Dumplings Sauce (5 oz; Lots 071122, 081822 & 6188 BB061025; UPC 8-60008-58851-7) due to undeclared soy.

Food Safety Recall: FDA reports that Mariscos Bahia, Inc. has recalled multiple varieties of fresh, raw fish after a CDC and FDA investigation linked fresh, raw salmon from this firm to an outbreak of Salmonella Litchfield illnesses in California, Arizona and Illinois. The recall covers the following products, which were shipped to restaurants in California and Arizona on or after June 14, 2022: Fresh Salmon Fillet, Fresh Deep Skin Salmon Fillet, Fresh Salmon Portions, Chilean Seabass (Fillet and Portions), Halibut (Fillet and Portions), Tuna (Fillet and Loin), Swordfish (Loin, Fillet, and Wheel).

Canada

Food Safety Recall: Les Colocs Café Resto (Québec, QC) recalls SAUCE À SPAGHETTI and CHILI CON CARNE (Sold up to 25 October 2022) due to lack of adequate storage temperature labeling.

Food Safety Recall: Family’s Choice Distribution recalls Family’s Choice Distribution brand Tahini Extra Sesame Seed Paste (18 kg; Lot 29; Expiry 04/04/2024) due to Salmonella contamination. The recalled product was sold in Ontario.

Europe

Allergy Alert (Denmark): DELICATE A/S recalls Salat med Pesto & Pasta / Pesto & pasta salad (275g; Best before 30-10-2022) due to undeclared mustard and egg.

Allergy Alert (Iceland): Miklatorg hf. recalls IKEA brand súkklaðibitakökudeigi / Chocolate chip cookie dough (Best before 12.01.2023) due to undeclared nuts.

Allergy Alert (UK): Co-op recalls Co-op Spaghetti Rings in Tomato Sauce (385g; Best before September 2024) due to undeclared celery.

Allergy Alert (UK): Delibo Wine Agencies recalls Bibo Runge Deserteur De-alcoholised Riesling Wine (750 ml bottles; Batch code L1223; Best before 10 August 2024) due to undeclared sulphites.

Food Safety Recall (Belgium): Delhaize recalls Delhaize Poulet Cuit-Fumé / Cooked smoked whole chicken (±1.3 kg; Lot 5412190116; Expiry date 07/11/2022) due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Belgium): Norenca N.V. recalls Norenca brand Carpaccio de boeuf / Beef carpaccio (±400g; Lot 91001707; Use by 26/10/22 & 27/10/22) due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Belgium): AFSCA orders recall of Label Afrik brand Thiéré Lalo Couscous à base de millet et de maïs / Millet-and-corn couscous (450g; Lot TH 050421 BE; Best before 30/04/2023) due to elevated level of aflatoxin.

Food Safety Recall (France): LE SOJAMI recalls Le sojami brand La Buchette- Spécialité lactofermentée soja et amande / Lacto-fermented soy and almond specialty product (135g; Lot 262720; Use by 28/12/2022) due to Bacillus cereus contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): LE SOJAMI recalls Sojabio brand La Bûche végé -spécialité lactofermentée au soja et amande / Lacto-fermented soy and almond specialty product (135g; Lot 262720; Use by 28/12/2022) due to Bacillus cereus contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): AUCHAN SUPERMARCHE BLANQUEFORT recalls VIANDE DE BOEUF HACHEE PREPAREE A LA DEMANDE VENDUE EN STAND BOUCHERIE / Ground beef prepared to order (Sold between 11/10/2022 and 26/10/2022) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): HAUDECOEUR recalls Samia brand Gingembre moulu / Ground ginger (100g; Lot 22AC495; Best before 01/04/2025) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): CHEVENET SARL recalls Chevrier des Crays brand CABRIFRAIS au lait cru / Cheese made from raw goat milk (Lots 255 – 258; Best before 11/10/2022) due to E. coli O103:H2 contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): ENTRE ELABORATION DES VIANDES GOVADIS recalls POULET FUME AU BOIS DE HETRE RONSARD OVALYS / Beechwood-smoked chicken (Lot 5412190115; Use by 09/11/ 2022) due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): CHEVENET SARL recalls CHEVRIGNY – CHEVRIER DES CRAYS brand Mini Barattes raw goat milk cheese (Lot 272; Best before 14/11/2022) due to possible shigatoxin-producting E. coli contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Luxembourg): Delhaize recalls Delhaize Poulet Cuit-Fumé / Cooked smoked whole chicken (±1.3 kg; Lot 5412190116; Expiry date 07/11/2022) due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

Food Safety Recall (Israel): Waldman Bihar Sausage and Meat Products Ltd. recalls Alitanaya Sausage brand Boiled sausage (Expiry date 7/12/2022) due to foreign matter contamination (piece of nylon).

Australia and New Zealand

Food Safety Recall (New Zealand): Foodstuffs Own Brands Ltd recalls Pams brand Alfalfa Sprouts, Salad Sprouts, Sandwich Selection Sprouts and Spicy Sprouts Combo (100g; Use by 04 11 2022) due to possible Salmonella contamination. No illnesses have been associated with these products as of the recall date.

Kerry’s former quality assurance director pleads guilty to Honey Smack outbreak

This story by Dan Flynn first appeared in Food Safety News on October 24, 2022, and is reposted here with permission.

A fast-moving, but somewhat secretive federal prosecution has extracted guilty pleas for three misdemeanors from the quality assurance director for a food manufacturer working for the Kellogg Company.

Ravi Kumar Chermala, 47, pleaded guilty on Oct. 21 to three misdemeanor counts of Introducing adulterated food into Interstate Commerce. It was part of a plea deal that is among a half dozen documents in the case that are sealed, and therefore not available for public viewing. The federal Magistrate for the Central District of Illinois, Jonathan P. Hawley, has scheduled sentencing for Jan. 30. 2023.

The charges stem from the multistate outbreak of Salmonella Mbandaka infections from Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, which sickened 135 people in 35 states in 2018. The infections required hospitalizations for 34 patients. The Kellogg Company recalled Honey Smacks cereal on June 14, 2018.

According to federal prosecutors, Chermala was quality assurance director for various Kerry manufacturing plants, including a facility in Gridley, IL, that manufactured Kellogg’s Honey Smacks breakfast cereal for Kerry’s customer, the Kellogg Company.

At the time of the recall, the Kellogg Company said it “had launched an investigation with the third-party manufacturer who produces Honey Smacks,” naming Kerry’s possible role.

In pleading guilty to the three misdemeanors, Chermala admitted that between June 2016 and June 2018, he directed subordinates to not report certain information to Kellogg’s about conditions at the Gridley facility.

In addition, Chermala admitted that he directed subordinates at the Gridley facility to alter the plant’s program for monitoring the presence of pathogens in the plant, limiting the facility’s ability to accurately detect unsanitary conditions.

“Food safety professionals cannot conceal potentially dangerous problems from customers or government regulators,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who engage in such conduct.”

Special Agent in Charge Lynda M. Burdelik of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations in the Chicago field office said this prosecution “reinforces that if an individual violates food safety rules or conceals relevant information, we will seek to hold them accountable. The health of American consumers and the safety of our food are too important to be thwarted by the criminal acts of any individual or company.”

Salmonellosis can cause symptoms such as diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps that last several days in healthy adults. Absent prompt treatment, salmonellosis can cause severe dehydration and even death in infants, young children, the elderly, transplant recipients, pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems.

Further information about the case will be posted to the department’s Information for Victims in Large Cases website at https://www.justice.gov/largecases.

Trial Attorney Cody Matthew Herche and Senior Trial Attorney James T. Nelson of the Department of Justice, Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case.

The misdemeanor counts in the case were filed with the court on Aug. 23, 2022. Defense attorneys Jesse Mentz and Michael Kim Krouse are both from the multinational law firm of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.

At the time of the Honey Smack recall, Kerry was subject to an FDA inspection that went to upper management. The resulting warning letter said in part:

“The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) inspected your Kerry Inc. facility, located at 320 West Gridley Road, Gridley, IL 61744-8723, from June 14 to 29, 2018. The inspection was initiated as (redacted) in three environmental swabs taken from your (redacted) cereal (“cereal”) production rooms during FDA’s inspection. Further, the FDA’s Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) analysis of the three isolates of (redacted).

“During our inspection of your facility, FDA investigators found serious violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation (CGMP & PC rule), Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 117 (21 CFR Part 117).

“Based on FDA’s inspectional findings and the analytical results for the environmental samples collected during the inspection, we determined that the cereal manufactured in your facility is adulterated within the meaning of section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) (21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(4) in that it was prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health. In addition, failure of the owner, operator, or agent in charge of a covered facility to comply with the preventive controls provisions of the CGMP & PC rule (located in subparts A, C, D, E, F, and G of part 117) is prohibited by section 301(uu) of the Act (21 U.S.C. § 331(uu)).”

FDA’s inspection resulted in the issuance of an FDA Form-483 (FDA-483), Inspectional Observations, listing deviations found during the inspection. It went to Kerry’s CEO in Beloit, WI.

Court documents are silent as to whether or not others are responsible for the outbreak. With six of 11 items docketed in the case being sealed, it is difficult to reach a complete picture.

Recalls and Alerts: October 22-24, 2022

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Chapter 6. Birth of a Pathogen

United States

OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION: CDC reports a pair of Salmonella outbreaks lnked to exposure to pet bearded dragons. Twenty-three cases have been reported from fifteen states as of October 12, 2022. Ten of the victims are children less than one year old. Eight of the outbreak victims have been hospitalized.

Allergy Alert: Da Cheng Vegetarian Food Inc. recalls Vegan Golden Nuggets (1 lb. and 6.6 lb. plastic packages; Expiration dates between 9/22/2023 and 01/11/2024) due to undeclared egg.

Food Safety Recall: Valley Milk Simply Bottled recalls Valley Milk Simply Bottled Raw Goat Milk and DESI MILK Raw Goat Milk (half-gallon (64 oz) plastic jugs; Code dates OCT 21 2022 through OCT 31 2022) due to Campylobacter jejuni contamination.

Canada

Food Safety Recall: Le Relais d’Olivier Marché d’alimentation (Sainte-Madeleine-de-la-Rivière-Madeleine, QC) recalls MORUE FUMÉE / Smoked cod (variable weights; Sold up to 24 October 2022) due to lack of proper expiration date labeling.

Europe

OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION UPDATE (Sweden): Public Health Agency continues to track an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium infections that has sickened 84 people so far. Cases have been reported from 20 of the country’s 21 regions. The outbreak is thought to be caused by fresh food with a limited shelf life, but a specific source has not been identified as yet.

Allergy Alert (Belgium): Aldi recalls Belgian Quality brand CHIPOLATA porc/veau / Pork and veal chipolata sausages (500g; Lots 22012891 & 22012991; Use by dates 26/10/2022 & 27/10/2022, respectively) due to undeclared wheat, celery and mustard.

Allergy Alert (Belgium): Aldi recalls Belgian Quality brand Hamburger de porc / Pork meat hamburgers (440g; Lot 22012926; Use by 27/10/2022) due to undeclared wheat, celery and mustard.

Allergy Alert (France): ALIMENTATION GROS IMPORT DIFFUS RHONE-A EPICERIE recalls GUIMAUVE OURSON CHOCOLAT NOIR / Marshmallow bears enrobed in dark chocolate (Best before dates between 04/12/2022 and 17/12/2022) due to undeclared nuts.

Allergy Alert (Luxembourg): Aldi recalls Belgian Quality brand Hamburger de porc / Pork meat hamburgers (440g; Lot 22012926; Use by 27/10/2022)) and Belgian Quality brand CHIPOLATA porc/veau / Pork and veal chipolata sausages (500g; Lots 22012891 & 22012991; Use by dates 26/10/2022 & 27/10/2022, respectively) due to undeclared wheat, celery and mustard.

Allergy Alert (Spain): Manufacturer recalls PRODUCTS WHITE brand ARTISAN ALMOND PASTE (400g; Batch 22123; Expiry 06/30/23) due to undeclared milk.

Food Safety Recall (France): CHARCUTERIE COSME recalls CHARCUTERIE COSME brand ROTI DE PORC FACON ORLOFF / Orloff-style pork roast (Lot 224210; Use by 27/10/2022) due to Salmonella contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): SOC CENTRALE APPROVISIONNEMENT ARMORIQUE LECLERC recalls Eleveur de l’ouest brand Poulet fumé au bois de hêtre / Beech wood smoked chicken (Lot 5412190094; Use by 07/11/2022) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): DISTRISUD recalls DISTRISUD brand Saint nectaire fermier 1/6 / Farm-style cheese, 1/6 wheel (280g; All Use by dates between 28/10/2022 and 01/11/2022) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): LIDL recalls L’Etal du volailler brand Poulet cuit fumé / Cooked smoked chicken (1.25 kg; Lots 5412190087 & 5412190135; Use by 09/11/2022) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): ALDI recalls Corril brand Poulet cuit fumé / Cooked smoked chicken (Lot 5412190071; Use by 07/11/2022) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): CASINO recalls LEADER PRICE brand Poulet cuit fumé / Cooked smoked chicken (±1.5 kg; Lot 5412190095; Use by 07/11/2022) due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Food Safety Recall (France): CHEVENET SARL recalls Chevrier des Crays brand Faisselle de Chèvre au lait cru / Cheese made from raw goat milk (4 x 100g; Lot 255; Best before 11/10/2022) due to E. coli O103:H2 contamination.

Food Safety Recall (Luxembourg): Mondelez recalls LU brand Granola chocolat au lait / Milk chocolate granola (200g & 2x200g; Lots OCE0123911, OCE0123912, OCE0123913, OCE0123921, OCE0123922, OCE0123923, OCE0123931, OCE0123932; Best before 30/06/2023) and LU brand Granola chocolat noir / Dark chocolate granola (195g; Lots OCE0123872, OCE0123873, OCE0123911; Best before 31/05/2023) due to foreign matter contamination (fine metal particles).

Food Safety Recall (Norway): Q-Dairies recalls Q-milk 0.5% fat (1 L; Dairy #1503; Best before 07.11.22; Time stamp 02:42 – 06:49) due to excessive vitamin D.

Food Safety Recall (Spain): Manufacturer recalls Albe Bocconcini brand Fresh Mozzarella (250g net weight, 150g drained weight; Batch 2910; Expiration 10/29/2022) due to presence of staphylococcal enterotoxin.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

Allergy Alert (Israel): Shakdia/Din Marketing and Kalia 2021 Ltd. recalls Sesame with marble chocolate coating (1 kg; All expiration dates up to and including 10/23) due to undeclared milk.