Recall Roundup: March 31, 2010

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.

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United States

• Food Safety Recall: Binell Bros. Cutlery recalls ground black pepper packaged in clear, plastic bags weighing between ¼ lb and 10 lbs, and sold on-site between December 11, 2009 and February 2, 2010, because the pepper may be contaminated with Salmonella.
• Food Safety Recall: Lance, Inc. recalls Tom's Barbecue Potato Chips with expiration dates through July 16, 2010, because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella. The chips were sold in retail stores nationwide in 1-ounce, 2.25-ounce and 8.5-ounce flexible packages.
• OTC Pharmaceutical Product Recall: McNeil-PPC, Inc. recalls Zyrtec® Itchy Eye Drops & Visine® All Day Eye Itch Relief – 0.17 fl oz because some samples tested as part of the manufacturer’s stability program did not meet product specifications.
• OTC Pharmaceutical Product Recall: Apotex, Inc. recalls some production lots of Claritin Eye-Allergy Eye Itch Relief-5 ml because during routine testing the product was observed to a have a low pH on this forumla/package combination.
• OTC Pharmaceutical Product Recall: Top Care recalls Top Care Eye Itch Relief Drops, 5 mL because the pH level is lower than specified.
• Dietary Supplement Safety Recall: Natural Wellness, Inc. recalls MasXtreme, Lot# 911035, because the product contains undeclared amounts of Aildenafil, as well as the drug Phentolamine, and can cause severe side effects.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Simplydelicious LLC (dba Bobo's Oat Cakes, Boulder, CO) that a November/December 2009 inspection found serious deviations from the applicable regulations that caused the Company's ingredients and finished food products to be adulterated. The inspector documented evidence of rodent infestation and general equipment maintenance issues, among other deviations from FDA's Current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns 1008 Grinstead Mill Road Dairy (Cave City, KY) that an investigation of the dairy's operations revealed several violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and Regulation.

Canada

• Food Safety Recall: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency warns consumers that certain Spike, Vegit and Vege-Sal seasonings (manufactured in the USA and imported into Canada) may be contaminated with Salmonella and have been recalled by the manufacturer and importer. The affected seasoning products were sold across Canada.

Europe

• Food Safety Recall (UK): Wester Lawrenceton Farm Ltd. recalls various batches of Carolla and Caerphilly cheese due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #10-602): Defective packaging of canned mackerel fillets in tomato sauce from Denmark; distributed in Canada.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.0401): Prohibited substance nitrofuran (metabolite) nitrofurazone (SEM) in frozen shrimps from India; distributed in the United Kingdom.
• Allergy Alert Notification (EU #2010.0402): Undeclared sulphite (180 mg/kg - ppm) in dried raisins from India; distributed in the Czech Republic.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.0403): Methamidophos (pesticide) in red pepper from Syria; distributed in Cyprus.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.0404): Salmonella in dried sausage from France; distributed in France and Belgium.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.0405): Unauthorised use of colour E 127 - erythrosine in food supplements from the United States; distributed in Italy.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.0406): formetanate in fresh red peppers from Turkey, via Germany; distributed in Austria.

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.

• A&P
• Big Y® World Class Market®
  
• BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.
  
• Bloom
  
• Brookshire's
  
• Costco Wholesale Corporation (US stores)
  
• Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
  
• EDEKA (Germany)
• Food City
  
• Food Lion
  
• Giant Food LLC
• Gros Cidac (Italy)
• Hannaford Brothers Co.
  
• Harris Teeter
  
• Harvey's Supermarket
  
• H-E-B
• The Kroger Company*
  
• Price Chopper
  
• Raley's
• Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc.
  
• Sainsbury's
  
• ShopRite
  
• Stop & Shop
• Sweetbay Supermarkets
• Target
  
• Top Food & Drug
• Tops Friendly Markets
  
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
  
• Wegmans
  
• Whole Foods Market
  
• Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
  

*The Kroger umbrella encompasses numerous supermarket, marketplace and convenience store chains, listed on the Kroger corporate home page.