Muscle Milk recalled for premature spoilage

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Who writes like this? PR thingies.

Out of an abundance of caution and with an emphasis on its customers’ wellness and safety, HP Hood LLC is voluntarily recalling certain code dates of protein drinks from its Sacramento, CA, facility, due to the potential for premature product spoilage.

HP Hood is voluntarily recalling specific products after identifying a possible packaging defect that may result in product spoilage during transport and handling. Consumers may notice that, in some cases, the packaging is bloated and product inside may have an off taste or odor. Consumers should not use the product, since it does not meet its high quality standards.

The recalled products are limited to plastic bottles of 14 oz. and 10 oz. MUSCLE MILK® Genuine, MUSCLE MILK® Pro Series, MUSCLE MILK® 100 Calorie, with Best By dates of November 21, 2016 through May 23, 2017, with an “HS” in the code date. This recall applies only to the products listed. The Best By and code dates are printed on the top of the lid of single serve bottles.

No confirmed reports have been received of any consumer illness nor injuries to date.

G & M Co. recalls beef products due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Douglas Powell

G & M Co., a Newark, N.J. establishment, is recalling approximately 3,586 pounds of beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The bulk beef cuts and trimmings items were produced on June 8, 9, and 10, 2016. The following products are subject to recall:

3,586-lbs. – Various box sizes ranging from 30-195 lb. containing plastic wrapped bulk beef cuts and trimmings marked only with plant identifier “M5476.”

The products subject to recall bear establishment number “M5476” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations in New Jersey and New York.

The issue was identified on June 14, 2016, when FSIS Inspection Program Personnel (IPP) conducted trace-back and trace-forward activities after the firm received a confirmed positive for Escherichia coli O157:H7 from FSIS sampling and testing. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

FDA food recall process too slow

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Liz Szabo of USA Today writes contaminated food has remained on the shelf for months because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sometimes moves too slowly to force food manufacturers to recall it, according to a report released Thursday by a watchdog agency inside the Department of Health and Human Services.

TOTAL RECALL, Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1990

In one case, the manufacturer of a nut butter took 165 days to recall a product contaminated with salmonella according to the report from the Office of the Inspector General, which looked at 30 recalls between 2012 and 2015. Fourteen people in 11 states became ill in the outbreak.

“Consumers remained at risk of illness or death for several weeks after FDA knew of potentially hazardous food,” according to a preliminary report from an ongoing audit.

In another series of recalls, at least nine people became ill, including a baby who died, from listeria bacteria in cheese. Two women also miscarried. Yet “81 days passed from the date FDA became aware of the adulterated product and the date the firm had voluntarily recalled all affected products,” according to the report.

The FDA doesn’t have an “efficient and effective” process to set a deadline for food manufacturers to voluntarily recall tainted food, a problem that requires the FDA’s “immediate attention,” according to the report. The FDA must give companies a chance to recall products voluntarily, before announcing a mandatory recall.

The new report is not the first to find problems with food recalls. A 2011 audit also found the recall program was “inadequate.”

In a statement, the FDA called the delays “unacceptable,” but noted that recalls are generally issued within an average of about a week.

“Public health is our top priority and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration works hard to ensure the U.S. food supply remains among the safest in the world,” the FDA said in a statement. “A small number of these recalls fell well outside of that average, with months passing before all impacted products were taken off shelves, even though the FDA notified the companies involved of a contamination as soon as it had evidence. . . . The recall process should be as swift as possible.”

From the report:

We found that FDA did not have an efficient and effective food recall initiation process that helps ensure the safety of the Nation’s food supply. Specifically, FDA did not have policies and procedures to ensure that firms1 or responsible parties2 (collectively referred to in this document as “firms”) initiated voluntary food recalls promptly. This issue is a significant matter and requires FDA’s immediate attention. … We suggest that FDA revise its policies and procedures to instruct recall staff to establish set timeframes for (1) FDA to request that firms voluntarily recall their products and (2) firms to initiate voluntary food recalls.

The information in this early alert is preliminary, and the audit is continuing. We will issue a draft report at the conclusion of the audit and include comments and actions taken in response to this early alert.

More proof: Same E. coli O121 found in flour in sick consumer’s home

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Douglas Powell

On June 10, 2016, U.S. Food and Drug Administration whole genome sequencing on E. coli O121 isolates recovered from an open sample of General Mills flour belonging to one of the consumers who was sickened was found to be closely genetically related the clinical isolates from human illnesses. The flour came from a lot that General Mills has recalled.

To date, 38 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O121 have been reported from 20 states. Illnesses started on dates ranging from December 21, 2015 to May 3, 2016. Ten ill people have been hospitalized. In its investigation, CDC learned that some people who got sick had eaten or handled raw dough.

FDA’s traceback investigation determined that the raw dough eaten or handled by ill people or used in restaurant locations was made using General Mills flour that was produced in the same week in November 2015 at the General Mills facility in Kansas City, Missouri. Epidemiology and traceback evidence available at this time indicate that General Mills flour manufactured at this facility is the likely source of the outbreak.

On May 31, 2016, following a conference call among FDA, CDC and the firm, General Mills conducted a voluntary recall of flour products produced between November 14, 2015 and December 4, 2015. Recalled products are sold in stores nationwide or may be in consumers’ pantries and are sold under three brand names: Gold Medal flour, Signature Kitchens flour and Gold Medal Wondra flour. The varieties include unbleached, all-purpose, and self-rising flours.

General Mills also sells bulk flour to customers who use it to make other products. General Mills has contacted these customers directly to inform them of the recall. FDA is working with General Mills to ensure that the customers have been notified, and to evaluate the recall for effectiveness.

Flour has a long shelf life, and bags of flour may be kept in peoples’ homes for a long time. Consumers unaware of the recall could continue to eat these recalled flours and potentially get sick. If consumers have any of these recalled flours in their homes, they should throw them away.

(this is bad)

People usually get sick from STEC O121 2-8 days (average of 3-4 days) after swallowing the bacteria. Most people develop diarrhea (often bloody) and abdominal cramps. Most people recover within a week.

Some illnesses last longer and can be more severe, resulting in a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). HUS can occur in people of any age, but is most common in young children under 5 years, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.

Restaurants and retailers should throw away any recalled General Mills flour. Some ill people reported handling raw dough at restaurants prior to eating their meal. Restaurants that allow their customers to handle raw dough should evaluate whether this practice is appropriate.

Restaurants and retailers should be aware that flour may be a source of pathogens and should control the potential for cross-contamination of food processing equipment and the food processing environment. They should follow the steps below:

Wash and sanitize display cases and refrigerators where potentially contaminated products were stored.

Wash and sanitize cutting boards, surfaces, and utensils used to prepare, serve, or store potentially contaminated products.

Wash hands with hot water and soap following the cleaning and sanitation process.

Retailers, restaurants, and other food service operators who have processed and packaged any potentially contaminated products need to be concerned about cross contamination of cutting surfaces and utensils through contact with the potentially contaminated products.

Regular frequent cleaning and sanitizing of food contact surfaces and utensils used in food preparation may help to minimize the likelihood of cross-contamination.

(this is bad)

What Do Consumers Need To Do?

The recalled General Mills products have a long shelf-life, and they may be in peoples’ homes. Consumers unaware of the recall could continue to eat these products and potentially get sick.

If consumers have these products in their homes, they should throw it away. As a precaution, flour no longer stored in its original packaging should be discarded if it could be covered by this recall, and the containers used to store this flour should be thoroughly washed and sanitized.

Three people who became ill reported handling raw dough at restaurants prior to eating their meal. As a precaution, consumers, especially children, should not handle raw dough at home or at restaurant locations.

FDA warns against eating raw dough products made with any brand of flour or baking mix before cooking. Consumers should always practice safe food handling and preparation measures when handling flour. The FDA recommends following these safe food-handling practices to stay healthy:

Do not eat or play with any raw cookie dough or any other raw dough product made with flour that is intended to be cooked or baked.

Follow package directions on baking mixes and other flour-containing products for proper cooking temperatures and for specified times.

Wash hands, work surfaces, and utensils thoroughly after contact with raw dough products containing flour.

Keep raw foods separate from other foods while preparing them to prevent any contamination that might be present from spreading.

All food can be contaminated: Huge recall of frozen fruits and vegetables after Listeria outbreak

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Douglas Powell

The N.Y. Times has noticed the growing number of recalls linked to Listeria-positive frozen produce packed by CRF Frozen Foods in Pasco, Wash., but offers little perspective on why.

Zero-tolerance is not discussed. Neither is the test-and-hold approach used by many frozen-produce packagers. And of particular note: During our tour of Ontario processing vegetable growers and processors 15 years ago, Chapman and I were told that almost all processing vegetables are blanched – not so much for food safety but for quality – except onions.

Back to the onions at the end.

Brittany Behm, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Times the scale of the recall reflects the severity of the outbreak of the illness, Listeria, and of concerns about how the contaminated food might have “trickled down” into other products.

The processing plant, has voluntarily recalled more than 350 frozen foods — including carrots, onions, peaches and strawberries — that were sold in all 50 states and Canada and Mexico, and the EU. The recall began on April 23, with 11 frozen vegetables, but was significantly expanded on May 2.

Eight people sickened with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes have been confirmed since 2013 — six in California and one each in Maryland and Washington, Ms. Behm said. All of the cases, involving patients 56 to 86 years old, resulted in hospitalizations.

The two people from Maryland and Washington died, but the authorities did not directly attribute their deaths to Listeria because they may have already had weakened immune systems or other illnesses, Ms. Behm said.

It was not clear how many packages were affected by the recall. A spokesman for the company, Gene Grabowski, did not respond to a phone call on Friday. He told The Associated Press that the CRF plant closed two weeks ago and that the company was trying to pinpoint the source of the contamination.

“Unquestionably, this is a lot of product. … It reflects the severity of listeria as an illness, the long duration of illnesses and the outbreak and the long shelf life of the products,” said Matthew Wise, who leads the outbreak response team at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On May 14, 2016, Food Safety News reported that staff from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspected the CRF Frozen Foods LLC plant in Pasco, WA, from March 14-17.

The company stopped production at the plant April 25 after being notified by federal officials that frozen vegetables produced there had been linked by genetic testing to several people who had infections from Listeria monocytogenes.

The two-page FDA inspection report includes boilerplate citations of applicable sections of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act on its second page. The first page includes hand-written observations documenting:

a damaged plastic shovel used for food contact tasks;

chipping, cracking and missing pieces of plastic on food contact portions of equipment on the onion production line;

a plastic conveyor belt with missing plastic pieces on at least five legs that are in direct contact with onions;

utility knives used for trimming bad spots off onions that had initials etched on their blades; and

blue tape being used as a temporary repair on a cracked metal plate above a consumer pack line that was repacking product for export at the time of the inspection.

All of the examples cited by inspectors are cause of concern for the same reason — they mean it’s impossible to adequately clean the equipment that is in direct contact with food being produced.

“The materials and workmanship of equipment and utensils does not allow proper cleaning and maintenance,” according to the report.

“Investigations are ongoing to determine if food sources used to manufacture CRF Frozen Foods products could explain some of the illnesses,” FDA reported in its most recent update May 4.

One of those “food sources” could be onions from Oregon Potato Co., also located in Pasco, WA.

“March 2016 environmental samples collected by FDA from Oregon Potato Company, located in Pasco, WA, were found to be closely related genetically to seven of the isolates of ill people associated with this outbreak,” the FDA reported.

“Based on this information, Oregon Potato Company voluntarily recalled wholesale onion products, which led to subsequent downstream customer recalls, one of which publicly disclosed Oregon Potato Company as its product source.”

Salmonella-positive ground beef sparks recall in Sweden

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Swedish retailer ICA has withdrawn mince and minced beef after a routine check found salmonella in the beef.

The recall applies to ICA Basic among mince (50/50 beef and pork, fat 22%), ICA Basic minced beef (20% fat) and ICA Among Mince (50/50 beef and pork, fat 20%).

Produktbilder från Börje Svensson
Studiosvensson
ICA EMV KPK Basic
Blandfärs 20% 1500g ICA Basic
Gris och nöt
EAN: 2319113200008

The beef comes from Ireland, pork meat in ICA Basic Among Mince comes from Denmark and pork meat in ICA Among Mince coming from Sweden.

The product may have been sold throughout the country from 2016-02-28. With the recall stopped goods for all sales in the stores’ cash registers. Salmonella bacteria die when material is heated to 72 ° C.

The recall applies to 13 different products, as shown below:

Product Weight Best before date Lotkod / Batch No.

ICA Basic Among Minced 50/50 1600g 2016-03-07 411639101A

ICA Basic Among Minced 50/50 1600g 2016-03-08 411644401D

ICA Basic Among Minced 50/50 1600g 2016-03-09 411644401C

ICA Basic Among Minced 50/50 1600g 2016-03-10 411644901A

ICA Basic Among Minced 50/50 900g 2016-03-08 411644401D

ICA Basic Among Minced 50/50 900g 2016-03-10 411644401C

ICA Basic peanut 20% 1600g 2016-03-09 411644401E

ICA Basic peanut 20% 1600g 2016-03-10 411644401E

ICA Basic peanut 20% 1600g 2016-03-10 411644401C

ICA Basic peanut 20% 900g 2016-03-09 411644401C

ICA Among Minced 50/50 Import 2500g 2016-03-07 411639101A

ICA Among Minced 50/50 Import 2500g 2016-03-09 411644901A
ICA regrets the incident and urges all customers who have purchased affected products primarily to return it to the nearest ICA store, or contact ICA’s customer contact by telephone 020-83 33 33 (open weekdays, Monday-Friday). Information is also available on ICA.se.

Recall reality: Make the best before dates bigger, I can’t see a damn thing

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Douglas Powell

I report on recalls every day, and usually don’t think much about it unless people are barfing.

This morning, Unilever recalled 1.25 and two-litre Blue Ribbon ice cream tubs sold across Australia due to cases of plastic pieces causing injury risks.

I thought, maybe that’s what’s in the freezer?

Affected products have a best before date between April 28, 2017 and April 27, 2018 and shouldn’t be eaten, the company said in a statement on Wednesday night.

According to reports the plastic pieces found their way into the ice cream via machinery during the production process at Unilever’s Minto factory where Blue Ribbon products are made.

The recall is a “precautionary measure” and tubs with a best before date from April 28, 2018 are not affected, the statement said.

Products can be returned to the place of purchase for a full refund.

I got the ice cream out of the freezer.

I put on my reading glasses.

I couldn’t see a damn thing.

Amy had a look and finally found the date, and we eventually made it out to say, best before March 21, 2018 (right, exactly as shown).

So I wandered off to the local Coles supermarket, and they refunded my $4.90.

I wandered over to the ice cream isle, and the Blue Ribbon was gone (left, exactly as shown).

Well done.

Your dog wants duck batch sliders; but without Listeria and Salmonella

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Ben Chapman

I’ve had small batch beers and whiskeys. Some are good. Some are small batches for a reason.

I’ve never had any small batch duck batch 1 oz sliders. But I’m also not that into dog food.

According to a press release, Smallbatch Pets Inc. is recalling one lot (or small batch?) of duck sliders because of potential contamination with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.

Smallbatch Pets Inc. is voluntarily recalling one lot of frozen dog duckbatch sliders due to their potential to be contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes can affect animals eating the products and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.

However, because of their commitment to safety and quality, Smallbatch Pets is conducting a voluntary recall of this product. Consumers should also follow the Simple Handling Tips published on the Smallbatch Pets package, when disposing of the affected product.

The potentially affected lots of dog duckbatch sliders were distributed to retail pet food stores in States CA, CO, OR, WA through pet food retailers/distributors. Eighty cases of this product were sold between the dates of 2/23/16 – 3/10/16. The affected products are sold frozen in 3lbs. bags. The products affected by this recall are identified with the following manufacturing codes: LOT #: CO27 Best By Date: 01/27/17 UPC: 713757339001 The “Best By” date is located on the back of the package below the seal.

This recall was initiated after routine testing by the Food and Drug Administration of a 3lb bag of dog duckbatch sliders, that was collected at a distributor, revealed the presence of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.

Smallbatch Pets lists this info on its website:

Additionally, we strive to only use meats that are free-range, pasture raised and always free of hormones and antibiotics. Our produce is 100% certified Organic and our supplements are always pure, organic, and unrefined. No HPP (high pressure pasteurization) always 100% raw, the way nature intended.

Pathogens are natural too.

Chilliwack Butcher recalls meat due to E. coli

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Ben Chapman

Fraser Health has issued an alert about raw ground beef products produced by Fraser Valley Meats.

The health authority says raw lean and extra lean ground beef produced and sold between March 5th and March 8th from the butcher shop may be contaminated with E. coli.

A sample tested positive, but Fraser Health says there were no food safety issues with the process in which the products were prepared.

Recall creep demonstrates system issues

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Ben Chapman

When folks try to limit recall size and scope without good traceability and sanitation clean breaks they usually aren’t successful. One recall announcement turns quickly into multiple and leads to larger questions about overall systems.

Last year, during the Blue Bell’s outbreak response and recall Marler and I both highlighted the issue of recall creep:

“Maybe the cleaning and sanitation program that Blue Bell was using wasn’t adequate. As more samples came back … it highlights that this problem was larger than they originally thought.”

“Limiting the recall might seem like a good idea. But then if you keep expanding your recall, it’s a death by a thousand cuts. You look like you’re dragging your feet.”

Traceability, sanitation, product lots, suppliers, ingredients. All this stuff, if not managed well, especially as investigators start asking for documentation, leads to recall expansion.

Here’s today’s recall creep example, care of Texas Star Nut & Food Company:

The above listed products, were distributed to Retailers nationwide. These products were sold between 8/13/2015 and 2/24/2016.

The company has ceased the distribution of all of the above products containing pistachio kernels. The recall was as a result of a routine, random sampling program conducted by a FDA third party contracted lab which revealed that the Nature’s Eats Natural Pistachio Kernels product contained Salmonella.

Consumers who have purchased any of the above listed products and best by dates are urged to discontinue consuming the potentially affected product and may return product to the retail location for a refund. Consumers with concerns or questions should contact the company at 1-844-571-5555 from 8:30am to 5:30 pm Central Standard Time.

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