Thursday, July 30, 2009

Recall Roundup: July 30, 2009

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals and allergy alerts. 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.



United States
  • Allergy Alert: Indian Groceries & Spices, Inc. expands earlier recall of Nirav brand Golden Raisins, due to the presence of undeclared sulfites.
  • Food Safety Recall: Camacho's Food Processing recalls approximately 1,450 pounds of ready-to-eat pork skin products because they were prepared without the benefit of federal inspection. The recalled items were distributed to retail stores in California. A retail distribution list will be released when available.


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.


If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the link on our sidebar.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Food Safety Working Group Responds

July 29, 2009

I received a personal email letter today from Bruce G. Bundick, Director, Office of the Executive Secretariat, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The content of the letter, reproduced below, speaks for itself.

Dear Ms. Entis:

Thank you for your March 17, 2009, electronic message to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) providing information related to enhancing food safety and offering assistance, in an advisory capacity, to enhance our nation's food safety system. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been asked to respond.


FSIS is the public health regulatory agency in the USDA responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled. FSIS enforces the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act, which require federal inspection and regulation of meat, poultry, and processed egg products prepared for distribution in commerce for use as human food.


President Obama has directed USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a plan to improve and modernize the food safety system and ensure that federal agencies' food safety activities are integrated more effectively. As you may be aware, the President's new Food Safety Working Group (FSWG), is chaired by the USDA Secretary, along with the HHS Secretary, and includes other agencies and senior officials who will advise the President on ways to upgrade our food safety laws for the 21st century, foster coordination throughout government, and ensure that the laws that will keep the American people safe are enforced.


You may be interested to know that the FSWG has launched a Web site, www.foodsafetyworkinggroup.gov that allows for continuing comments from the public. We encourage you to use that tool to have a dialogue with the FSWG as the work of the group continues to evolve.

Thank you again for the information that you provided and your interest in enhancing food safety.


Sincerely,

Bruce G. Bundick

Director

Office of the Executive Secretariat



I would like to thank USDA and the Obama Administration for their timely and substantive response to my list of suggestions, which I submitted via the Food Safety Working Group website on March 17, 2009.




Recall Roundup: July 29, 2009

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals and allergy alerts. 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.



United States
  • Allergy Alert: Price Chopper recalls Central Market Classics Caramel Caribou Ice Cream (1/2 Gal), because the product may contain undeclared nuts.
  • Food Safety Recall: Frontera Produce recalls one lot of imported cilantro (Lot #118122), because it may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled cilantro, which was distributed to stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisiana, and New Mexico, was available at Wal-Mart, as well as in Kroger stores in Texas and Louisiana.
  • Dietary Supplement Recall: Nutracoastal Trading LLC recalls STEAM Dietary Supplement after being advised by FDA that the product contains the erectile dysfunction drug, sulfoaildenafil, which may cause serious side effects.
  • Dietary Supplement Recall: Nutracoastal Trading LLC recalls one lot of S-DROL Dietary Supplement after being advised by FDA that the product contains the steroid desoxymethyltestosterone, which may cause serious side effects.


Canada
  • Allergy Alert: Canadian Food Inspection Agency advises consumers that Haitai brand ButterRing Cookies, product of Korea, sold in 80 g packages bearing UPC 8 801019 306297, have been recalled by the importers due to the presence of undeclared egg and milk protein. The recalled products were distributed in Ontario and Alberta.


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.


If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the link on our sidebar.

Salmonella and Mexican Cilantro

July 29, 2009

For the second time this month, an importer of cilantro from Mexico has recalled a shipment of the herb after learning that it was contaminated with Salmonella.

The first recall was initiated on July 18th by Sweet Superior Fruit Ltd. of McAllen, Texas after FDA detected Salmonella in a sample of their cilantro. Yesterday, Frontera Produce (Edinburg, TX) announced that it was recalling a shipment of cilantro after in-house tests conducted by the importer detected Salmonella in product that was supplied to "... two retail store chains in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisiana, and New Mexico."

The presence of Salmonella in cilantro from Mexico is neither unprecedented nor especially surprising. In a recent survey of Mexican produce, 11% of cilantro samples were found to be contaminated with Salmonella. In 2008, FDA refused entry to two shipments of Mexican cilantro – one from Saltillo and the other from Reynosa – due to Salmonella contamination. Cilantro was even briefly in the spotlight as a possible source of last year's Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak (eventually traced to jalapeno and serrano peppers from Mexico).

Frontera's press release did not identify the two retail chains that were supplied with the recalled cilantro. But The Kroger Co. announced on July 27th that it was recalling several products sold in its Texas and Louisiana stores, because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The time frame and the nature of the products that are included in Kroger's recall suggest that they may contain cilantro from Frontera. And today, both Kroger and Wal-Mart posted cilantro recall announcements.

The contaminated cilantro was available for sale between July 20, 2009 and July 27, 2009. The cilantro bunches in question have a white twist tie with pink lettering spelling the word ‘Cilantro’ and the UPC number 033383801049. Consumers who purchased cilantro bunches bearing this UPC number from a store in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado or Oklahoma during the indicated time period should discard the unused portion.

While no illnesses have been reported so far, anyone who begins to experience symptoms of salmonellosis (nausea, diarrhea, stomach ache, mild fever), and who may have consumed the recalled cilantro, should seek immediate medical attention.


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Recall Roundup: July 28, 2009

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals and allergy alerts. 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.



United States
  • Food Safety Recall: Publix Super Markets recalls Publix Gourmet Peanut Mix, which may be contaminated with Salmonella because the mix contains peanuts supplied by Peanut Corporation of America.
  • Food Safety Recall: The Kroger Co. recalls Country Fresh 7 Layer Bean Dip, due to possible contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled item was sold in Kroger supermarket stores in Texas and Louisiana.
  • Food Safety Recall: Fireside Coffee Co. recalls specific lot numbers of Vanilla, Decaf Vanilla, Chocolate and Spiced Fireside brand Chai Tea after learning that the items contained dry milk supplied by Plainview Milk Products and may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled Chai Tea products were sold nationwide through retail stores, by mail order, and at art fairs.
  • Food Safety Recall: On July 10th, Haifa Smoked Fish, Inc. recalled all Haifa Smoked Fish brand Cold Smoked Whitefish sold between December 7, 2008 and June 18, 2009, due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled product was distributed to retailers and distributors in the New York State area.



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.


If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the link on our sidebar.

Tracking Plainview Milk's Powdered Products Recall

Updated July 28, 2009
Original article posted July 2, 2009

On June 28th, Plainview Milk Products Cooperative recalled two years worth of powdered milk, whey powder and other dry food ingredients after FDA found Salmonella on the Company's production equipment.

Because the Minnesota-based cooperative is a supplier to food processors, the Plainview recall is cascading through the food chain. FDA has updated its searchable recall database, which is now current as of noon, July 17th.

The following list of recalls is culled from the FDA notices, company news releases and on-line news articles, and will be updated as more information is released.

  • Calico Cottage, Inc. Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix pouches (10 oz.) marked with lot# 101.08.15 and lot# 311.08.45
  • C.F. Sauer Company – Brown gravy, brown gravy with mushrooms, brown gravy with onions, turkey gravy, pork gravy, country sausage gravy, country style gravy, Alfredo sauce mix, Cajun gumbo mix, and Hollandaise sauce mix produced under the Sauer’s, Gold Medal, and Piggly Wiggly labels
  • CLIF SHOT®Hot Chocolate Recovery Drink Mix (40-gram, single-serve packets and 12-pack boxes) with a “Best By” date of 19SEP09R
  • Country Creations – Frosting packets included with Country Creations Braided Bread and Country Creations Cinnamon Rolls distributed to frozen food distributors nationwide
  • CPI Foods, Inc. – 20g packets of Nonfat Dry Milk. The packets are components of shelf-stable meal kits supplied to community service organizations in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, West Virginia, North Carolina, Nevada and Kentucky
  • Dairyshake MRE Mix – Dairyshake powders found in Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs) and Unitized Group Rations-Express (UGR-Es) recalled military-wide (see also Trans-Packers Services, Corp., below)
  • Diamond Crystal Brands, Inc. – Nonfat dry milk and dry beverage mixes containing nonfat dry milk packaged under a variety of brands
  • Dunkin' Donuts – Temporary suspension of hot chocolate and Dunkaccino brand beverages
  • Fireside Coffee Co.Four flavors of Fireside Chai Tea
  • Food City – Food Club Instant Milk
  • Food Lion, including Food Lion, Harveys, Bottom Dollar Food and Reid's – Food Lion Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
  • Giant Food LLCGiant Nonfat Dried Milk, 9.6 ounce size
  • Godiva ChocolatierG Collection Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day gift boxes that were available for purchase during limited holiday timeframes in 2009
  • Hannaford Bros. Co.Hannaford Instant Nonfat Dry Milk, 10 x 1 Qt. envelopes
  • Kesso Foods, Inc. – Kesso Foods Lowfat All Natural Plain 2% Greek Thick Yogurt
  • The Kroger Co., including Kroger, Dillons, Gerbes, Baker's, Food 4 Less, Hilander, Jay C, Owen's, Pay Less and Scott's – Three popcorn seasonings
  • Lewis Laboratories International, Ltd.Weigh Down Chocolate Flavor Nutrition Drink Mix
  • Malt-O-Meal Co.Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal in cartons and in packets sold in "Variety" cartons; sold under various brand names (follow live link to recall notice for details). The company expanded its recall on July 11th to include additional date codes.
  • Max Muscle USANumerous Max Muscle products containing whey protein concentrate
  • McClancy Seasoning Co. Alba Instant Non-Fat Dry Milk (25.6 oz), Alba Instant Non-Fat Dry Milk (9.6 oz), Alba Creamy Milk Chocolate Snack Shake Mix (6 oz), Alba Double Fudge Royale Snack Shake Mix (6 oz), Alba Smooth Vanilla Bean Snack Shake Mix (6 oz) and Alba Strawberry Banana Snack Shake Mix (6 oz)
  • Meijer, including stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky – Meijer Instant Milk 10 Qt Packets 32 oz
  • Natural Foods, Inc. (Bulkfoods.com) – Instant Nonfat Milk Powder; 1, 5 & 25 lb. packaging
  • Natural Foods, Inc. (Plainview) – Instant Nonfat Milk Powder, 50 lb. packaging
  • NOW FoodsNOW Foods products containing whey protein concentrate (12 products; 29 lots)
  • Nutrition Global, LLC – certain batches of SNI Pro Whey, SNI Pro Mass and Sci Labs Mass Fuzion Dietary Supplement
  • Plentiful Pantry – Almond Pound Cake with Cinnamon Sauce, 741; Almond Pound Cake, T2940
  • Precision Foods, Inc. – Land O Lakes International Drinking Cocoa "Madagascar Vanilla."
  • Robert St. John – Rich, Rich, Rich Hot Chocolate Mix
  • Stop & Shop Supermarket Company – Stop & Shop Nonfat Dried Milk, 16-ounce and 32-ounce sizes
  • Sturm Foods, Inc. – One-quart instant nonfat dry milk products, packaged under a variety of brand labels
  • Traditions – Prepackaged meal kits that contain separate portions of instant nonfat dried milk
  • Trans-Packers Services Corp. – Approximately 6,300 packets (net wt. 100 g) of Dairy Shake blends. The company expanded its recall on July 13th to include 300 additional packets of Dairy Shake blends.
  • Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Stealth Chocolate and Stealth Vanilla powdered dietary supplements

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency alerts consumers that certain Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix and Gourmet Hot Chocolate Mix products may contain recalled milk powder from Plainview Milk Products and have been recalled. CFIA advises that additional recalls may follow.

The European Commission advises member countries that Salmonella-contaminated whey powder supplement from the United States may have been distributed within the European Union and should be withdrawn from the market.


If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the link on our sidebar. For updates to this posted list of Plainview Milk Products-related recalls, please check back periodically, or subscribe to the eFoodAlert RSS feed.


Monday, July 27, 2009

Recall Roundup: July 27, 2009

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals and allergy alerts. 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.



United States
  • Food Recall: Food City recalls Food Club Canola Oil 48 oz. - 7/27/09 and Valu Time Canola Oil 48 oz. - 7/27/09. No explanation is given for the recall.
  • Food Safety Recall: The Kroger Co. recalls Fajita Mix, Spinach/Feta Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms, Country Fresh Pineapple Pico, Country Fresh Mango Pico, Country Fresh Black Bean Pico and Country Fresh Pico de Gallo, due to possible contamination with Salmonella. The recalled items were sold in Kroger stores in Texas and Louisiana.
  • Food Safety Recall: USDA posts retail distribution list for Salmonella-contaminated ground beef products recalled last week by King Soopers, Inc. The recalled meat was sold in King Soopers, City Market and Dillon stores in several states.
  • Food Safety Recall: Tanimura & Antle expands geographic scope of earlier recall of a single production lot of romaine lettuce to encompass all 50 US states, in addition to Puerto Rico and Canada.


Canada
  • Product Safety Recall: Munchkin Inc. recalls Fun Ice® Chewy Teether after Health Canada detects Bacillus cereus inside the gel-filled teether.


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.


If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the link on our sidebar.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Oh Canada!

July 26, 2009

When I worked for Canada's Health Protection Branch ("HPB") in the 1970s, we were blessed with the same type of splintered national food safety regulatory system that the United States still enjoys today.

Agriculture Canada was responsible for meat and poultry. It also handled certification of exports, such as nonfat dry milk. Fisheries and Oceans oversaw fish and seafood. Consumer Affairs monitored labeling issues. Provincial Agriculture or Health departments had exclusive authority over food processors that did not ship products across provincial boundaries.

HPB – nominally responsible for all aspects of food, drug and cosmetics regulation – was not permitted to encroach on other departmental turf, unless invited. Even when another department uncovered a problem, such as Salmonella contamination in nonfat dry milk, HPB had to replicate the Salmonella-positive finding in a fresh set of samples before it could send an inspection team to the processing plant.

I was in charge of the microbiology group that provided lab support to HPB's QuĂ©bec Region inspection team in 1976, when we learned – to our great delight – that Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was planning to consolidate all federal food safety activities under a single department. Although we knew that Eugene Whelan, the Minister of Agriculture, was one of the most powerful cabinet members, my colleagues and I hoped that HPB would be that department.

In an unprecedented move, the Speech From The Throne (the annual unveiling of the government's plans for the coming year) was broadcast live through our building's public address system. All non-essential work halted that morning, as we listened for the short statement that would set the single-agency decision in motion. Imagine our dismay when The Speech ended without any mention of food safety – let alone the establishment of a single agency. At the last moment, Mr. Whelan had managed to torpedo the policy announcement.

Two decades later, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ("CFIA") was born – and was delivered into the hands of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. All federal food inspection responsibilities, together with the supporting lab facilities, were transferred to CFIA. Risk assessment research, instead of being consolidated within CFIA, was shipped in the other direction – to Health Canada.

The splintering of responsibility and authority was described in CFIA's first Departmental Performance Report:

"The creation of the CFIA clearly reinforces the division of federal powers between the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Minister of Health. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, through the CFIA, retains responsibility for establishing animal and plant health standards and providing related inspection activities. With regard to food, the CFIA conducts all federal food inspection activities while Health Canada establishes policies and standards relating to the safety and nutritional quality of food sold in Canada. In addition, Health Canada assesses the effectiveness of the Agency’s activities related to food safety."

Canada's single agency solution was the equivalent of turning over all US food inspection authority from FDA to USDA, while transferring all of the research and risk assessment activities to FDA. Responsibility for enforcement of Canada's food safety laws was handed to the same government department that was charged with promoting the country's agricultural and food industry. Instead of creating an independent food safety agency, the Canadian government gave the foxes a larger hen house to supervise.

The split personality inherent in Canada's food safety system was fingered last week as one of the elements that hamstrung the government's response to last year's deadly outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes. According to Sheila Weatherill, appointed by the Prime Minister to investigate the outbreak,

"The lack of a clear understanding about which organization or level of government was responsible for doing what – including which organization should lead the response to the crisis – contributed to the inconsistent management of the outbreak."

The US government is currently reexamining this country's food regulatory system, including the possible establishment of a single food safety agency. Before food safety reform is sent irretrievably down a specific pathway in the United States, members of Congress and the Administration's Food Safety Working Group should study the Canadian experience carefully. A regulatory agency must be free from any conflicting mandates, and must be given all of the research and investigative tools needed to do its job.

As a result of my own experiences while working at HPB in the 1970s, I strongly believe that a single, independent US federal food safety agency would be far preferable to the fragmented system that is currently in place. But it must be done right. Carving up areas of responsibility, authority and resources into bite-size pieces to placate politicians would be a recipe for disaster.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Recall Roundup: July 25, 2009

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals and allergy alerts. 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.



Canada
  • Allergy Alert: Charcuterie du Vieux Longueuil LtĂ©e (193, rue Saint-Charles Ouest, Longueuil, QC) recalls three varieties of fruit pies due to the presence of undeclared egg protein.
  • Allergy Alert: S.I.S.U. Inc. recalls Dophilus Chewable Tablets, labeled as "non-dairy". The probiotic tablets may contain trace amounts of milk protein from ingredients used in the production process. Health Canada has received one possibly associated report of an adverse reaction from a consumer with allergies to milk protein.


Europe
  • Food Safety Recall (UK): Waitrose recalls Moody's Rosary Pink Peppercorn Goats Cheese (100g) as the pink peppercorns have been found to be contaminated with Salmonella.


Asia, Africa and the Pacific
  • Food Safety Recall (South Korea): Maeil Dairies recalls and destroys more than 50,000 packages of Premium Gung powdered baby milk after health authorities find Enterobacter sakazakii


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.


If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the link on our sidebar.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Recall Roundup: July 24, 2009

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals and allergy alerts. 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.



Canada
  • Allergy Alert: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency advises that various Surasang and Cremon brands of snack foods, imported from the Republic of Korea, have been recalled because they contain undeclared egg or milk.

Europe
  • Allergy Alert (UK): 99p Stores withdraws some Elgorriaga Chocolate con Leche, because the product contains undeclared peanuts and almonds.

Australia & New Zealand
  • Food Safety Recall (Australia): Grand Continental Food Company Pty Ltd recalls Dried Whole Anchovies (100g and 500g packets), due to the presence of histamine, a biotoxin. The recalled anchovies were sold in Asian retail outlets in New South Wales.


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.


If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the link on our sidebar.

Trust & Consequences

July 24, 2009

Several weeks ago, I was invited to contribute a column to the Food Manufacturing Magazine eNewsletter on food safety. The eNewsletter was released yesterday, and I have reproduced my column below, with live links to background references, for the benefit of eFoodAlert readers.


Trust & Consequences

by Phyllis Entis, MSc., SM(NRCM)

Peanut butter probably killed Clifford Tousignant, a 78-year old Korean War veteran. It most likely killed Shirley Almer, and seven other people, too.

These nine victims did not die as the result of a peanut allergy. They were infected with Salmonella Typhimurium. As were more than 700 other people, who managed to survive the nausea, vomiting, fever and diarrhea that resulted from eating contaminated peanut butter.

The outbreak began in September 2008. The initial cases, however, escaped notice for more than a month. It was early November before CDC spotted a pattern of illnesses reported by several different states, all due to an unusual strain of Salmonella Typhimurium. CDC enlisted the assistance of state and local health officials across the country to trace the source of the outbreak.

The investigation bore its first fruit when Minnesota’s Team Diarrhea isolated the Salmonella strain from an opened jar of King Nut peanut butter, found in the kitchen of a nursing home where several residents had been infected. Connecticut confirmed the link by recovering the outbreak strain from an unopened jar of King Nut peanut butter stored in a distributor’s warehouse.

With the cooperation of King Nut, CDC and FDA traced back the contaminated peanut butter to the Blakely, Georgia processing plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America (“PCA”). FDA and Georgia inspectors descended on the Blakeley plant in early January 2009. The investigators uncovered numerous violations, and found Salmonella in the plant environment. They also discovered that PCA shipped some of its peanut products to its Plainview, Texas subsidiary.

FDA soon learned that PCA had never registered the Plainview peanut plant with the Texas Department of State Health Services. The plant had been operating for three years without ever having been inspected. Once again, federal and state investigators found numerous sanitary violations on visiting the Plainview facility. And they recovered the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium from a batch of peanut meal that PCA had shipped from the Georgia facility to the Texas plant.

PCA supplied peanut butter and other peanut products to more than 100 food processors, including Kellogg Co. In January 2009, while the FDA was immersed in its investigation of PCA’s production plants, the agency received several complaints from consumers who had developed salmonellosis after eating Kellogg’s Austin and Keebler brand peanut butter crackers. These crackers – made with PCA’s peanut butter – were contaminated with the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak strain.

Kellogg immediately recalled its Austin and Keebler crackers. And, as the scope of the contamination became manifest, the initial flurry of recall notices issued by PCA’s dozens of customers became a blizzard that lasted through most of the winter.

The US food safety system is based on trust. Consumers rely on government regulators to police the food industry. FDA, USDA and state agencies trust food processors to follow Good Manufacturing Practices. Food companies, such as Kellogg, trust the validity of Certificates of Analysis provided by their ingredient suppliers – or trust third-party auditors to keep those suppliers on track.

If trust is misplaced at any point, the system is put at risk. Multiple lapses can lead to catastrophic system failure – just as happened when Peanut Corporation of America distributed Salmonella-contaminated peanut products to its customers throughout the United States.


What went wrong at Peanut Corporation of America?

The Georgia PCA facility had a history of violations uncovered during previous state inspections; the Texas facility never even registered with the state as a food processing plant, and never was inspected – until it was too late.


PCA chose to close its eyes to food safety problems. Salmonella-positive lab results simply triggered a re-test, or were ignored completely. PCA shipped peanut products to its customers before the company received lab test results, and did not recall shipments that tested Salmonella-positive. The company lied to government inspectors, lied to its customers, and lied to consumers about its Salmonella contamination problem.



What went wrong at Kellogg?

Kellogg relied on independent, third-part audits carried out by the American Institute of Baking (“AIB”) to verify that PCA was meeting Kellogg’s ingredient microbiological safety standards. In fact, these audits were anything but independent.


PCA paid AIB registration fees so that the company’s QC Managers could attend the Institute’s annual training courses. PCA named AIB as the “independent” auditor required under the peanut supplier’s agreement with Kellogg. PCA paid for – and received advance notice of – the audits. The last AIB audit of PCA’s Georgia facility, which took place in March 2008, was arranged three months in advance.



What went wrong with the regulators?

PCA registered its Plainview, Texas peanut facility with FDA, as required by federal law. The company also registered with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. But PCA never notified the Texas Department of State Health Services (“DSHS”) that it was carrying out food processing operations in Plainview. As a result, DSHS – under contract with FDA to carry out food plant inspections on behalf of the federal government – never visited PCA’s Texas facility until after FDA identified Plainview’s connection to the national Salmonella outbreak.


The Georgia Department of Agriculture, also under contract with FDA, inspected PCA’s Blakeley plant nine times in three years. Based on the time spent on site, these inspections were cursory, at best. Each plant visit lasted no more than four hours, and was carried out by a single inspector; most inspections were less than three hours long. The last state inspection, carried out in October 2008, uncovered only two violations.


PCA was under no legal obligation to release its lab test results to regulators. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the company chose not to advise the Georgia inspector of Salmonella-positive lab reports, dating as far back as June 2007. That information only came to light during FDA’s outbreak investigation.

PCA’s President, Stewart Parnell, didn’t set out deliberately to poison his customers, any more than a drunk driver sets out to crash his car. Triggering a deadly food poisoning outbreak was, undoubtedly, the farthest thing from his mind. But choices have consequences, and Parnell chose to ignore the warning signs of a deeply embedded Salmonella contamination in his production plant.

Parnell’s unwise decisions precipitated a deadly nationwide Salmonella outbreak, a series of food recalls that cost the food industry more than $1 billion, and the bankruptcy of Peanut Corporation of America.


© 2009 Phyllis Entis

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Recall Roundup: July 23, 2009

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals and allergy alerts. 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.



United States
  • Food Safety Recall: King Soopers, Inc. (Denver, CO) recalls approximately 466,236 pounds of ground beef products that may be linked to an outbreak of salmonellosis.

Canada
  • Food Safety Recall: Tanimura & Antle recalls romaine lettuce that may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled lettuce, which was imported from the United States was sold in stores belonging to the following chains: A&P (ON), Big-Way Foods (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, YT, NT, NU), Co-op (BC, AB, SK, MB, Northwest ON,NU, NT), Giant Tiger (SK, MB), Northern/Northmart (SK, MB, ON, Northern AB, NU), Metro (ON), Real Canadian Wholesale CM (24 Forwell Creek,Waterloo, ON), and Super A Foods (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, YT, NT, NU).

Europe
  • Food Safety Recall (Republic of Ireland): H.J. Heinz Company Ltd. recalls Heinz Mum's Own Spaghetti Bolognaise (7 months+, 200g jars) that may contain small pieces of plastic which could present a choking risk.


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.


If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the link on our sidebar.