Recalls and Alerts: February 15 – 17, 2018

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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United States

Outbreak Alert: USDA/FSIS issues Public Health Alert advising consumers that a Fareway Chicken Salad, produced between Dec. 15, 2017 and Feb. 13, 2018 and shipped to Fareway stores in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota may be contaminated with Salmonella. The Iowa Department of Health has implicated the product in multiple cases of salmonellosis across the state.

Pet Food Safety Alert: The J.M. Smucker Company announces a business-to-business withdrawal of 27 canned/wet dog food products manufactured and sold since 2016 under its Gravy Train, Kibbles ‘N Bits, Skippy and Ol’ Roy brands after pentobarbital was reported in several samples of Gravy Train products. Please refer to the notice posted on the J.M. Smucker web site for a complete list of affected products, which were supplied to retailers nationwide.

Pet Food Safety Recall (Update): Smokehouse Pet Products Inc. recalls Beefy Munchies Dog Treats (all lots and pack sizes) due to potential Salmonella contamination. The recalled product was distributed nationwide through distributors selling to various retailers.

Food Safety Recall: Pilgrim’s Pride Corp recalls GOLD KIST FARMS, Fully Cooked Whole Grain Home-Style Breaded Chicken Patties (30-lb. boxes with six 5-lb. clear bags; Case code 72491050xx; Product code 665400) due to possible foreign matter contamination. The recalled product was shipped to institutions nationwide.

Canada

Food Safety Recall: Marché Landry-Tardif inc (Lévis, QC) recalls Féves au lard maison / Home-style baked beans (1L; Code 260618105997; All lots up to and including 14 February 2018) and Soupe aux pois en pot / Pea soup in a jar (500 ml; Code 260597203998; All lots up to and including 14 February 2018) because the products were stored improperly.

Europe

Allergy Alert (Denmark): Mars Danmark A/S recalls Celebrations Easter Eggs filled with chocolate bars (242g) due to undeclared milk, gluten and peanuts.

Allergy Alert (Germany): Dirk Rossmann GmbH recalls ernerBio Tortilla Chips (125g; Best by 06/27/2018) due to undeclared gluten.

Allergy Alert (Germany): Global Foods Trading GmbH recalls MDH CHANA MASALA India Spice Blend (100g; Best before 30.01.2019; Lot 81; Product of India) due to undeclared sulphites.

Allergy Alert (UK): Laila Foods recalls Laila Mint Sauce (1L; Batch code PR210617C2; Best before 21 June 2018) due to undeclared egg.

Allergy Alert (UK): Morrisons recalls Morrisons Italian Penne Bolognese Bake (400g; Use by 18th,19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd & 23rd February 2018) due to undeclared celery.

Food Safety Recall Update (Germany): Wewalka GmbH Nfg. KG expands its earlier recall to include Cuisinette Blätterteig puff pastry (2x270g; Best by 09.03.2018) due to possible contamination by metal fragments.

Food Safety Recall (UK): Young’s recalls Chip shop fish cakes, frozen 6 pack (300g; Best before January 2019 [Batch no. AAL 7209K & AAL 7209L] and Best before February 2019 [AAK 7222J & AAL 7222K]) because they may contain pieces of plastic and metal.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

Food Safety Recall (Hong Kong): PARKnSHOP (HK) Limited recalls Casino brand Jambon Superieur Fines tranches /Sliced Ham (120g; Use by February 13, 2018; Product of France) due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Australia and New Zealand

Allergy Alert (Australia): Deeks recalls Deeks Banana Log (620g; Best before 11 Feb 18, 18 Feb 18 and 25 Feb 18) due to undeclared egg. The recalled product was sold at selected IGAs (ACT), Health food shops, grocery stores, independent stores and the Pearce Café & Lounge in the ACT, NSW, QLD, VIC and WA.

Allergy Alert (New Zealand): Importers recall Lotte brand Kancho Choco Biscuits (all batches and packaging sizes; Product of Korea) due to undeclared peanut, gluten, soy, milk, egg and tree nuts (almonds). The recalled products were sold in various ethnic stores, supermarkets, retail outlets and online stores throughout New Zealand.

Food Safety Recall (Australia): Mondelez International recalls Cadbury Caramilk Chocolate Block (190g; Best before 17/01/2019 and 21/01/2019) because some of the bars may contain small, flexible pieces of food grade plastic. The recalled chocolate was sold in Coles, Woolworths, IGA’s and independent retailers (VIC only) in NSW, QLD, VIC, SA, TAS and WA.

Food Safety Recall (New Zealand): Foodstuffs Own Brands Ltd recalls Value brand Multigrain Toast Fresh Sliced Bread (600g; Best before 26 Jan 18 and 11 Feb 18 inclusive) as the product may contain foreign matter (plastic). The recalled product was sold in New World, Pak’n Save and Four Square supermarkets throughout the North Island.

FDA, Smucker don’t agree on which dog foods are problem

The Food and Drug Administration alerted pet owners Friday about potential pentobarbital contamination in several brands of dog foods manufactured by The J.M. Smucker Co.

The warning came after a media outlet reported the results of a study that found low levels of pentobarbital in some samples of Gravy Train canned dog food. The drug is used to euthanize animals.

Based on the testing results provided to FDA, the agency has made a preliminary evaluation that the level of pentobarbital found in the samples is “unlikely to post a health risk for pets.”

However, the presence of pentobarbital at any level in pet food is a violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and FDA therefore is investigating the potential source and route of contamination.

Smucker responded to the findings of the private study by initiating a voluntary business-to-business withdrawal of certain Gravy Train, Kibbles ’N Bits, Ol’ Roy and Skippy branded canned dog food from retailer warehouses.

According to FDA, the list of affected products (shown below) includes all lots of the specified products manufactured from 2016 through the present. The products were distributed to retailers across the USA.

A comparison of the FDA list to a list of 27 products provided to Food Safety News Thursday by a Smucker spokesperson reveals significant differences.

While all 18 products on the FDA list were included in the Smucker information, several Gravy Train, Skippy and Kibbles ’N Bits products named by the company were absent from the FDA list.

“Out of a desire to inform consumers quickly, earlier this week we published a list of products that included the ingredient that could have contained extremely low levels of pentobarbital, regardless of whether the products were manufactured during the withdrawal timeframe. The FDA chose to focus on products made within a specific timeframe,” a Smucker spokesperson told Food Safety News.

FDA is aware of these differences and has requested clarification from Smucker regarding the status of the additional products, according to a statement added to the agency’s consumer alert notice several hours after its initial release.

Although Smucker has not initiated a consumer-level product recall, as of Friday, Target, Walmart, PetSmart and the Department of Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) have alerted their customers to the product withdrawals.

FDA advice to retailers, consumers
Retailers should remove the withdrawn pet food from their shelves and/or websites and contact the manufacturer for further instructions. If retailers have records to identify consumers who have purchased the withdrawn product, the FDA encourages those retailers to contact the consumers to alert about the product withdrawal.

Consumers should not feed their pets the withdrawn lots of canned dog food. Consumers who purchased these products should safely dispose of the cans and/or contact the Sucker company for information about returning the products.

Consumers who think their pets may be ill from eating food contaminated with pentobarbital should contact their veterinarians immediately.

The FDA encourages consumers to report complaints about this and other pet food products electronically through the Safety Reporting Portal or by calling their state’s FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinators.

In addition to certain Skippy and Kibbles ‘n’ Bits dog foods, the Smucker Co. is pulling Gravy Train and Ol’ Roy brands.

Canned dog food listed by the FDA as being included in the market withdrawal are:

Gravy Train with T-Bone Flavor Chunks, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910052541
Gravy Train with Beef Strips, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 791052542
Gravy Train with Lamb & Rice Chunks, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910052543
Gravy Train with Chicken Chunks, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910034418
Gravy Train with Beef Chunks, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910034417
Gravy Train with Chicken Chunks, 22-ounce can, UPC 7910051645
Gravy Train with Beef Chunks, 22-ounce can, UPC 7910051647
Gravy Train Chunks in Gravy with Beef Chunks, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910034417
Kibbles ‘N Bits 12-can Variety Pack – Chef’s Choice American Grill Burger Dinner with Real Bacon & Cheese Bits in Gravy, Chef’s Choice Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Turkey Bacon & Vegetables in Gravy, 12 pack of 13.2-ounce cans, UPC 7910010377, 7910010378
Kibbles ‘N Bits 12-Can Variety Pack – Chef’s Choice Bistro Hearty Cuts with Real Beef, Chicken & Vegetables in Gravy, Chef’s Choice Homestyle Meatballs & Pasta Dinner with Real Beef in Tomato Sauce, 12 pack of 13.2-ounce cans, UPC 7910010382, 7910048367, 7910010378
Kibbles ‘N Bits 12-Can Variety Pack – Chef’s Choice Homestyle Tender Slices with Real Beef, Chicken & Vegetables in Gravy, Chef’s Choice American Grill Burger Dinner with Real Bacon & Cheese Bits in Gravy, Chef’s Choice Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Beef & Vegetables in Gravy, 12 pack of 13.2-ounce cans, UPC 7910010380, 7910010377, 7910010375
Kibbles ‘N Bits Chef’s Choice Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Beef & Vegetables in Gravy, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910010375
Kibbles ‘N Bits Chef’s Choice Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Turkey, Bacon & Vegetables in Gravy, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910010378
Kibbles ‘N Bits Chef’s Choice Homestyle Tender Slices with Real Beef, Chicken & Vegetables in Gravy, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910010380
Ol’ Roy Strips Turkey Bacon, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 8113117570
Skippy Premium Chunks in Gravy Chunky Stew, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 79100502469
Skippy Premium Chunks in Gravy with Beef, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910050250
Skippy Premium Strips in Gravy with Beef, 13.2-ounce can, UPC 7910050245

This story first appeared in Food Safety News and is reposted here with permission.

Gravy Train, Ol’ Roy, other brands recalled for euthanasia drug

Smucker Co. downplays phenobarbital amid ‘withdrawal’ of four dog food brands

The J.M. Smucker Co. has voluntarily withdrawn certain shipments of 27 different pet food products following media reports of pentobarbital contamination in some of its Gravy Train dog food.

Pentobarbital is a tranquilizer that is often used as a euthanizing agent to put down sick or fatally injured animals.

A consumer-level product recall has not been initiated. As of Wednesday afternoon neither Smucker nor any government agencies had revealed whether any of the implicated dog food made it to retail shelves where the public has access to buy it.

Smucker’s spokesperson provided Food Safety News a list of the recalled dog food, which it has requested retailers remove from their warehouses. The list of recalled dog food provided by Smucker is as follows:

Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with T-Bone Flavor Chunks – UPC: 7910052541
Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with Beef Strips – UPC: 7910052542
Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with Lamb and Rice Chunks – UPC: 7910052543
Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with Beef Chunks – UPC: 7910034417
Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with Chicken Chunks – UPC: 7910034418
Gravy Train 13.2 oz. Chunks in Gravy Stew – UPC: 7910051933
Gravy Train 13.2 oz. Chicken, Beef & Liver Medley – UPC: 7910051934
Gravy Train 13.2 oz. Chunks in Gravy with Beef Chunks – UPC: 7910034417
Gravy Train 22 oz. with Chicken Chunks – UPC: 7910051645
Gravy Train 22 oz. with Beef Chunks – UPC: 7910051647
In addition to certain Skippy and Kibbles ‘n’ Bits dog foods, the Smucker Co. is pulling Gravy Train and Ol’ Roy brands.

Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Burger Bacon Cheese and Turkey Bacon Vegetable Variety 12-Pack – UPC: 7910010377; 7910010378
Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Beef, Chicken, Vegetable, Meatball Pasta and Turkey Bacon Vegetable Variety Pack – UPC: 7910010382; 7910048367; 7910010378
Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Beef, Chicken, Vegetable, Burger Bacon Cheese and Beef Vegetable Variety Pack – UPC: 7910010380; 7910010377; 7910010375
Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Wet Variety Pack – UPC: 791001037; 7910048367
Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Chef’s Choice Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Beef & Vegetable in Gravy – UPC: 7910010375
Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Chef’s Choice Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Turkey, Bacon & Vegetable in Gravy – UPC: 7910010378
Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Chef’s Choice Homestyle Tender Slices with Real Beef, Chicken & Vegetables in Gravy – UPC: 7910010380
Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Select Cuts in Gravy with Beef & Bone Marrow – UPC: 7910071860
Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Select Cuts with Burgers & Cheese Bits – UPC: 7910050243
Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy with Smoky Turkey & Bacon – UPC: 7910050246
Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy with Beef & Chicken – UPC: 7910050247
Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy 3 in 1 Chicken, Beef & Liver – UPC: 7910050248
Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy Chunky Stew – UPC: 7910050249
Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Strips in Gravy with Chicken – UPC: 7910050244
Skippy 13.2 oz, Premium Chunks in Gravy with Beef – UPC: 7910050250
Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Strips in Gravy with Beef – UPC: 7910050245
Ol’ Roy 13.2 oz Turkey Bacon Strips – UPC: 8113117570

Smucker initiated the product withdrawal following a Feb. 8 media report of low levels of pentobarbital contamination in some Gravy Train products.

The contamination was detected during the course of a study commissioned by WJLA, a Washington D.C. area station, according to a spokesperson from the Clean Label Project, which conducted the study for the news station. Gravy Train was the only brand of pet food included in the study that was found to contain pentobarbital.

The study was undertaken in response to the 2017 discovery of pentobarbital in brands of canned/wet dog food manufactured by Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Co. Inc., an adulteration that resulted in illnesses of several pets and at least one death.

Beginning in October 2017, Clean Label Project obtained 99 retail samples of various brands of canned/wet dog food for pentobarbital analysis by Ellipse Analytics, a Denver laboratory.

The samples were analyzed to determine both the presence and the amount of pentobarbital in the dog foods, using test methods consistent with FDA protocols. According to Smucker, the amounts of pentobarbital found in their product “…do not pose a threat to pet safety.”

An FDA spokesperson told Food Safety News that the agency’s “…preliminary evaluation of the testing results of Gravy Train samples indicates that the low level of pentobarbital present in the withdrawn products is unlikely to pose a health risk to pets.

“However, pentobarbital should never be present in pet food and products containing any amount of pentobarbital are considered to be adulterated,” said the FDA spokesperson.

All of the products included on Smucker’s retailer recall list came from the same manufacturing facility. The company has narrowed its investigation to “…a single supplier and a single, minor ingredient…” used at that facility.

Jaclyn Bowen, the executive director of Clean Label Project expressed a lack of surprise at the pentobarbital findings.

“At Clean Label Project, we believe that sometimes what’s not on the label is what’s most important,” she said.

“Clean Label Project’s 2017 Pet Food Study revealed high levels of heavy metals, BPA, and acrylamide in some of the nation’s best selling pet food. The presence of pentobarbital in Gravy Train does not come as a surprise and the Evanger’s recall was not a one-off, rather the tip of the iceberg of an industry that needs to significantly improve its food safety and quality through testing.”

Smucker encourages pet owners with questions or concerns about this situation to contact the company by telephone 800-828-9980 or via email at: http://www.bigheartpet.com/Contact/ContactUs.aspx.

This story first appeared on Food Safety News and is reposted here with permission.