More corporate douchebags who talk a good food safety game but could care less have been caught endangering people and losing huge piles of money for their owners.
The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post are reporting this morning that Basic Food Flavors Inc., the Las Vegas company at the center of a recall of more than 100 food products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, continued to make and distribute food ingredients for about a month after it learned salmonella was present at its processing facility, according to a Food and Drug Administration report.
Managers at Basic Food Flavors of Las Vegas learned on Jan. 21 that samples taken a week earlier from their Nevada facility tested positive for salmonella, but they kept shipping their product to foodmakers, according to FDA inspection records.
The FDA last week recommended companies recall products, from chips to soups, that contain a commonly used additive made by Basic Food Flavors that tested positive for salmonella. The additive is mixed into foods to give them a meaty flavor.
FDA officials inspected Basic Food’s plant for about two weeks starting in mid-February and found the company didn’t adequately clean equipment and store foods to protect against the growth of contaminants such as salmonella, according to the inspection report.
The inspectors noted that "light-brown residue" and "dark-brown liquid" was observed on or around where Basic Food makes flavor-enhancing ingredients used in foods. The inspectors said brown residue was also found in a plastic pipe used in making food ingredients.
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Basic Food makes a flavor enhancer called hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP. The FDA report said the company first learned salmonella was present at its processing facility for HVP on Jan. 21. The company continued to distribute the ingredients until Feb. 15. A representative for the company wasn’t immediately available to comment. The company hasn’t responded to earlier requests for comment.
No illnesses have been reported related to the recall, said FDA spokeswoman Rita Chappelle.
But those who shipped out Salmonella-positive ingredients are still douchebags.
A list of affected products can be found at http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/HVPCP/.
The course devotes a lot of time to food safety risk communication and Kevin, being a bright guy, thought, CBC is about to call and ask me about Salmonella in hydrolyzed vegetable protein, I’ll check in with Doug for some tips.
Four companies have recalled hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), a common ingredient used most frequently as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods, including soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips and dressings, because of possible salmonella contamination since Feb. 26.
• French Dip Powdered Au Jus from Johnny’s Fine Foods of Tacoma, Wash.