Recall creep: cookie dough edition

Listeria-positive linked recalls, similar to Facebook stalkers, creep. That’s what they do.

Same with clowns in the woods.choco_chunk

The typical event seems to go like this. Someone downstream in the buyer world or a government group finds a product with a pathogen. They call the supplier. The supplier looks at their system, maybe not understanding how regulators look at zones, sanitation clean breaks and environmental sampling, decides they will have a limited recall.

FDA or state investigators show up, assess the system, say, ‘hey, you really might have a larger problem here than you think’ and the recall creeps.

I dunno if that’s what is happening with Aspen Hills, a cookie dough processor who supplied their products to a bunch of ice cream companies (full disclosure, cookie dough ice cream is probably my favorite flavor).

It started with Blue Bell a couple of weeks ago, an expansion Monday and now Blue Bunny, Chocolate Shoppe and Publix are in on this.

Aspen Hills has nothing on their website about the recalls. Oops.

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About Ben Chapman

Dr. Ben Chapman is a professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. As a teenager, a Saturday afternoon viewing of the classic cable movie, Outbreak, sparked his interest in pathogens and public health. With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements, and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, Chapman investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers, and organizational decision-makers; the gate keepers of safe food. Ben co-hosts a biweekly podcast called Food Safety Talk and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and, maybe not surprisingly, Pinterest. Follow on Twitter @benjaminchapman.