Tag: Salmonella

Recalls and Alerts: September 22, 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

  • Allergy Alert: Makowski’s Real Sausage Co. (Chicago, IL) recalls Real Sausage Co. Cooked White Bratwurst 4-1 and Real Sausage Co. Cooked White Bratwurst 3-1 (10 lb pkgs; Est 68744; Julian dates 17812, 18812, 25112, 25712 or 26512), because the product contains undeclared milk. The recalled sausage products were manufactured on June 25, July 5, Sept 6, Sept 12 and Sept 20, 2012 and shipped to foodservice distributors for hotel, restaurant and other institutional use throughout Illinois.
  • Food Safety Recall: Fresh Express Incorporated recalls Leafy Green Romaine Salad (9 oz pkg; Use-by date September 16; Product code I246A5BMG), after Listeria monocytogenes was found by USDA as part of a random sampling testing program. The recalled product was distributed primarily in the Midwest and Eastern states.
  • Pet Food Safety Recall: Kasel Associated Industries (Denver, CO) recalls Boots & Barkley American Beef 5-inch Bully Sticks (6 ct in clear plastic bag; UPC 647263899189; ALL LOT CODES), after the Colorado Department of Agriculture found Salmonella in the following four lots: BESTBY20APR2014DEN, BESTBY01JUN2014DEN, BESTBY23JUN2014DEN, and BESTBY23SEP2014DEN. Production and distribution has been suspended while FDA and the company investigate the source of the contamination. The recalled product was sold from April through September 2012 at Target stores across the USA.
  • Food Safety Recall: Safeway recalls Ground Beef Products (Sell by dates of 09-07-12 to 09-23-12) sold in Oregon, Washington and Montana, because the products include trimmings from beef that was the subject of XL Food Inc.’s recall and may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Please consult the Canada/USA Ground Beef Recall page for a complete list of recalled products, including retail distribution information.
  • Food Safety Recall/Outbreak Alert: Trader Joe’s recalls Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter (16 oz plastic jar; SKU 97111; All code dates), because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella. CDC reports 29 cases of Salmonella Bredeney infections in 18 states, including 4 people who were hospitalized. Fourteen out of the 14 case patients who were interviewed reported having shopped at Trader Joe’s locations; 12 of the 14 reported eating Trader Joe’s Valencia Creamy Salted Peanut Butter made with Sea Salt in the week before becoming ill. The investigation is continuing. The peanut butter is sold at Trader Joe’s stores nationwide and on the internet.

Canada

  • Food Safety Recall Update: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has expanded its Health Hazard Alert regarding ground beef products containing meat from XL Foods to include additional products and retailers. The ground beef products encompassed by the Alert may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Please refer to the Canada/USA Ground Beef Recall page for a current list of recalled products, including retail distribution.

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: September 20, 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: GHSW, LLC (Houston, TX) recalls expired products that contain cut mangoes sourced by Food Source from Agricola Daniella (Code dates from 9/7/12 to 9/15/12), because the mangoes may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled products were shipped to retail distribution centers August 29 – September 5, 2012, and sold through retailers in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas under the Garden Highway and Signature Café brands, and as generic products. Please refer to the Salmonella Braenderup – Mango tab for a list of recalled products and retail distribution information.
  • Food Safety Alert: Forever Cheese has decided to stop importing and selling all products manufactured by Fattorie Chiarappa Srl (Conversano, Italy), effective immediately, including Ricotta Salata Frescolina, Marte brand Roasted Ricotta and Hard Ricotta Salata. Forever Cheese has taken the action due to possible contamination of Marte brand Frescolina Ricotta Salata cheese with Listeria monocytogenes. Fattorie Chiarappa Srl was placed on Import Alert by FDA on September 13, 2012.
  • Food Safety Recall: Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc. recalls fresh-cut mangoes (32-oz clear plastic bowls; Best by 9/18/12 and 9/22/12; lot codes 05252101 and 03256100, respectively), because the product contains mangoes from Agricola Daniella and may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled product was distributed to retailers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington.
  • Outbreak Alert: CDC reports that a total of 196 persons in 31 states have been infected with Salmonella Sandiego, Salmonella Pomona and Salmonella Poona since August 3, 2011 as a result of exposure to small pet turtles or their environments.

Canada

  • Allergy Alert: The Poultry Place (Saint Jacobs, ON) recalls Krispy Chicken Wings (2 lb; Best before up to and including 13MR11), due to the presence of undeclared egg, and Marinated Chicken Wings (2 lb & 3 lb; Best before up to and including 13MR11), due to the presence of undeclared wheat. The recalled products were distributed in Ontario.
  • Food Safety Recall: XL Foods expands its earlier recall of ground beef products to include additional products supplied to Sobeys/IGA, Presto, Club Entrepot and CO-OP, because the products may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Please refer to the Canada/USA Ground Beef Recall tab for a detailed list of recalled products and affected retailers.

Europe

Australia and New Zealand

  • Allergy Alert (New Zealand): Blue River Dairy LP recalls Milk Maid’s Vanilla Sheep Milk Ice-Cream (850ml tubs) after discovering that the product has been incorrectly labeled. The label states that the product is Allergy Tolerant, Lactose & Dairy Friendly, which could be incorrectly interpreted to mean that the product is lactose and dairy free.

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 Rumors – DFI Cantaloupe

When DFI Marketing Inc. (Fresno, CA) recalled some cantaloupe melons on September 12, 2012, the story went something like this:

  • DFI routinely samples products for food borne pathogens prior to harvest; the testing is carried out by third-party labs.
  • The company’s internal sampling of the cartons involved in the recall were negative for Salmonella.
  • USDA found Salmonella on a single sample of cantaloupe during routine testing conducted at a wholesale produce distribution center (terminal market).
  • DFI, in consequence, recalled approximately 28,000 cartons of cantaloupes packed on August 26, 2012 as a precaution.

As so often happens in today’s world of sub-distributors and further processors, the DFI recall triggered others – including a September 13th recall announcement from Cut Fruit Express, Inc. (Inver Grove Heights, MN) and several supermarket chains. This time, though, there was an unusual wrinkle to the story.

Yesterday morning (Sept. 18th), I received an email from the Director of Quality Systems at one of the affected companies. This person had just been advised by their supplier that Salmonella had been found on the knife used to sample the DFI cantaloupe, and that DFI had been “cleared.” Naturally, my correspondent was eager to get to the bottom of this. As was I.

While my correspondent checked with FDA and with DFI, I queried USDA. Both FDA and DFI responded that the rumor was false; DFI even commented that they had heard the same rumor the day before from a different source.

Today, I received the following detailed reply from Shayla Mae Bailey, from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Services’ Public Affairs desk:

I received your inquiry about the DFI Cantaloupe recall, and spoke with the MDP program about the rumors surrounding the lab’s results. Below is more detail about how samples are handled during our testing.

The Microbiological Data Program (MDP) recently reported a positive Salmonella enteritidis detection in cantaloupe to the Food and Drug Administration. The cantaloupes were distributed by the firm, DFI Marketing, Inc. of California, and were collected and tested in Colorado. Questions have surfaced about the validity of MDP’s reported results, especially in regard to sample handling and possible control contamination. MDP stands by its results. To ensure the reliability of results MDP relies on the expertise of trained State Department of Agriculture sample collectors.

Collectors follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) and use aseptic technique (one-time use sterile gloves and sterile collection bags) when collecting samples for MDP. Collected samples are properly packaged and shipped the same day for overnight delivery to a MDP testing laboratory. After chain-of-custody receipt requirements are met, experienced laboratory personnel also use aseptic technique and follow SOPs to prepare samples for testing. To remove the chance for contamination, no cutting or slicing occurs for any MDP samples prior to or during any testing procedures.

When a positive is initially detected, MDP requires additional confirmation and this usually involves as many as five additional tests to be performed on the positive samples. In addition to the multiple confirmatory tests, MDP requires the laboratories to use special fluorescent-tagged controls throughout all testing procedures. These fluorescent-tagged controls allow for quick identification and also insures that a positive detection is a true result and not a control contamination. All MDP laboratories have achieved ISO 17025 certification and follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for handling bacterial pathogens. For more details on MDP testing procedures, SOPs are accessible online at the website, www.usda.ams.gov/mdp.

Bottom line: The USDA stands by its results. The rumor is false. The recall is real.