Recall Roundup: October 1, 2010

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals, allergy alerts and miscellaneous compliance issues. 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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For information on the US Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak and egg recalls, please click here.

For information on the Abbott infant formula powder recall, please click here.

United States

• Allergy Alert: Hostess Brands, Inc. (Irving, TX) recalls Hostess® Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins multi-packs (4 packs of 5 muffins each; net wt. 8 oz (227g); UPC 45000-60703; Best By Oct 31). Due to a packaging error, some of the multi-packs may contain Banana Nut Mini Muffins with undeclared walnuts.
• Food Safety Recall: Hamilton Corner Meat Market Inc. (New York, NY) recalls all packages of ground beef sold from bulk on September 20, 2010 due to the presence of Salmonella. The contamination was found after a sample taken by a food inspector during a follow-up inspection was found to contain Salmonella.
• Food Safety Recall: Essex Farm Inc. (dba Best Farm, New York, NY) recalls all packages of Soybean Sprouts due to the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. The sprouts were purchased in bulk and repacked at the retail store level. The contamination was found as the result of routine sampling by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.
• Food Safety Alert: The California Department of Public Health warns consumers not to eat Banner Mountain Alfalfa Sprouts (4-oz. clear, flexible, clamshell plastic containers; sell by dates from September 7 to October 8, 2010), because the sprouts may be contaminated with Salmonella.
• Food Safety Recall (Eggs): California Department of Public Health updates the California retail distribution list for recalled eggs from Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa.

Canada

• Food Safety Recall: Pacific Rim Shellfish (2003) Corporation (Vancouver, BC) recalls Pacific Rim Petite raw oysters (Lot #1091502 and #1092204) because they may contain foodborne pathogens. The recalled oysters were distributed to various retail and institutional clients in British Columbia, and were sold from the Pacific Rim Shellfish cash & carry retail outlet in Vancouver. According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, consumption of raw or undercooked oysters are behind three clusters of gastroenteritis illnesses in the province, thought to be caused by Norovirus infections.

Europe

• Food Safety Alert (Sweden): The National Food Administration warns that meat stamped with Knorr Vangen Slaughter AB was placed on the market without inspection.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.1321): Unauthorised novel food ingredient tongkat ali (Eurycoma longifolia) in coffee from Malaysia; distributed to Romania.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.1322): Parasitic infestation with microsporidia in frozen hake fillets from Argentina; distributed to Lithuania.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.1323): Illegal import of and fraudulent health certificate(s) for bonito (Katsuwonus pelamis) from China; distributed to Germany.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2010.1324): Migration of epoxidised soybean oil from lid of glass jars containing sesame paste from Turkey; distributed to Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain.

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
• 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
  
• WinCo Foods
• Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
  

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