Recalls and Alerts: March 28, 2013

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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United States

• Allergy Alert: The Gift Shop at Buffalo Trace Distillery recalls Bourbon Flavored Caramel Sauce, Bourbon Flavored Fudge Sauce, Marinade for Meat, Barbeque Sauce and Hot Barbeque Sauce due to undeclared milk, soy, wheat, and/or anchovy.
• Outbreak Alert: The Hawaii Department of Health is investigating nine cases of E. coli O157:H7 illness, including three adults and six children. Three of the children have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome. Eight of the victims are residents of Oahu; the ninth is a Canadian visitor to the state.

Canada

• Allergy Alert: La Charcutière (Laval, QC) recalls la Pizza Romarin, due to undeclared milk protein.
• Food Safety Recall: Boucherie Laurentienne ltée (Wentworth-Nord, QC) together with William J Walter and S. Bourassa retailers in various locations, recalls a number of sausage and other pork products, because the products were not manufactured in a manner that ensures microbiological safety.

Europe

• Allergy Alert (Ireland): Gallagher's Bakery warns that Gallagher’s Bakery Lo-GI Farmhouse Loaf contains undeclared milk powder and whey powder.
• Food Safety Recall (Italy): Organic Oils Italia Srl (Perugia) recalls Olio di lino biologico "crudigno" / "Crudigno" Organic Linseed Oil due to a chemical hazard.
• Medical Device Safety Recall (France): LifeScan recalls OneTouch Verio IQ and OneTouch Verio Pro blood glucose meters, because the meters produce erroneous readings at extremely elevated blood glucose levels.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Food Safety Alert (China): Channelnewsasia reports that the Chinese partner of Hero Group, a major Swiss baby formula manufacturer, has been accused of adulterating Hero's production and a senior official has been detained. According to state media, the Xile Lier company had been mixing out-of-date formula with supplies imported under its partnership agreement with Hero.

Australia and New Zealand

• Outbreak Alert (NSW, Australia): NSW Health is urging people who have had diarrhoea not to swim in pools until at least two weeks after they have fully recovered following an increase in cryptosporidiosis in NSW. There have been 484 cases of cryptosporidiosis reported to NSW Health to date this year.

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 website.

• 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*
• Lucky Supermarkets
• Price Chopper
• Publix
• Raley's
• Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc.
• Safeway**
• 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.

**Includes Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Dominick's, Genuardi's, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs and Pak N' Save.

Recalls and Alerts: April 19, 2011

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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.

United States

• Allergy Alert: Cinderella Sweets recalls Cindy's Scrumptious Chocolate Chip Pound Cake, 16 oz., due to the presence of undeclared egg. Due to a labeling error, the product packaging indicates "Egg Free" but eggs are listed on the ingredient statement.


• Allergy Alert: S&M (USA) Enterprise Corp recalls Rain Swiss Roll, Banana Flavor (160g uncoded cardboard box; Product of China), because the product contains undeclared eggs. The recalled product was distributed nationwide.


• Food Safety Recall: Charcuterie La Tour Eiffel (Montreal, Canada) recalls all Summersweet seafood mousses and dips after samples from two lot codes of Salmon & Spinach Mouse were found to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled mousses and dips (see FDA recall notice for product list) were sold in retail outlets in New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, California and Texas, including in Ralphs supermarkets. The manufacturer has suspended production pending the outcome of an investigation into the source of the contamination.


• Food Safety Recall: Royal Sweet Bakery, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) recalls Herring in Vegetable Oil Filling, after the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets determined that the fish was improperly eviscerated prior to processing and may, therefore, be contaminated with spores of Clostridium botulinum.


• Food Safety Recall/Outbreak Investigation Update: As of April 18th, The Rhode Island Department of Health has identified 79 confirmed and suspect cases of salmonellosis linked to baked goods from De Fusco's Bakery in Johnston, RI. Forty-eight cases were lab-confirmed; 30 people were hospitalized, and there have been two Salmonella-associated deaths.


• Salmonella Outbreak Investigation Update: During the past two years (beginning April 9, 2009), 216 Salmonella illnesses have been confirmed in 41 states as a result of contact with water frogs, especially African dwarf frogs. The outbreak victims were infected with a strain of Salmonella Typhimurium that has been traced to a single African dwarf frog breeding facility in California. The outbreak strain also was recovered from a water sample collected in March 2011 from an aquarium containing African dwarf frogs in the household of a sick infant. Approximately 30% of the outbreak victims were hospitalized as a result of the infection.


• Food Safety Alert: A retail-level survey of 100 samples of raw chicken (including whole fryers and packages of chicken parts) sold in Fred Meyer, Safeway, QFC, Whole Foods, Costco, Sam's Club, Albertsons, Thriftway, PCC Natural Markets and Ken's Market stores in the Seattle area from March 1st to April 4th revealed the presence of Staphylococcus aureus (42 samples), Campylobacter (65 samples), Salmonella (19 samples), Listeria (1 sample) and E. coli O126 (1 sample). Ten of the samples were contaminated with a methicillin-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus.


• Recreational Water Advisory Update (Oregon): A heath advisory for contact with marine water at Seaside Beach in Clatsop County, Oregon was lifted after further testing showed that fecal bacteria levels have subsided at the beach.


• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Brinkman Turkey Farms, Inc. (Findlay, OH) that a January/February 2011 inspection of the company's low-acid canned food manufacturing facility revealed significant deviations from the Low-Acid Canned Food regulations.


• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Schindler's Broad Run Cheese House, Inc. (Dover, OH) that a series of inspections carried out between September 2010 and December 2010 revealed serious deviations from Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food.


• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Hocean Food Corporation (Los Angeles, CA) that a November/December 2010 inspection of the company's rice noodle processing establishment revealed serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods.


• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Delta Airlines, Inc. (Atlanta, GA) that an inspection of a Delta aircraft in Atlanta uncovered the presence of rodent excreta pellets and mammalian urine at various locations the aircraft.


• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Omega Nutriton U.S.A., Inc. (Bellingham, WA) that a December 2010 inspection of the company's dietary supplement manufacturing facility revealed serious violations of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for Dietary Supplements.

Canada

• Allergy Alert: Aliments Trigone Inc. recalls Les Moissonneries du Pays brand Green Buckwheat Flour Stone Ground Finely Milled (1 kg., Code 349642), due to the presence of undeclared gluten. The recalled product was distributed in the province of Québec.


• Allergy Alert: Armstrong Food Service recalls Roast Beef (Product code 123790; Best Before dates up to and including 21/04/11), Shaved Roast Beef (Product code 124804; Best Before dates up to and including 21/04/11), and Thin Sliced Shaved Roast Beef (Product code 124802; Best Before dates up to and including 21/04/11) due to the presence of undeclared soy. The recalled products were distributed to hotels, restaurants and institutional customers in Nova Scotia., Shaved


• Health Product Recall: Mary Ginseng House recalls Mary Ginseng House 100% Pure High Calibre Pow Sum Ontario Genseng after Health Canada's testing revealed the presence of Klebsiella oxytoca, Pantoea sp. and Enterobacter cloacae in product samples. These bacteria can cause serious infection in an individual whose immune system has been weakened by another illness or chronic condition.


• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Galati Cheese Company Ltd. (Windsor, ON) that a January 2011 inspection of the company's cheese manufacturing facility revealed a serious violation of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food, in that the company failed to store and transport finished food under conditions that will protect the food against physical, chemical, and microbial contamination.

Europe

• Allergy Alert (UK): Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC recalls Morrisons Fresh Ideas Mini Chicken Roast, 411g (Use by 22 April 2011), Morrisons 6 Carrot Cake Slices (Best before 11 May 2011), and Morrisons The Best Prawn & Smoked Salmon Cocktail, 140g (Use by 20 April 2011), due to the presence of undeclared allergens.


• Petting Farm Outbreak Investigation (Wales, UK): Public Health Wales is investigating an outbreak of Cryptosporidium in an unspecified number of people who fell ill over the past twelve months following farm and "lamb petting" events at Erddig Hall.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Food Safety Enforcement Action (Abu Dhabi): Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority has ordered the closure of Al Tazaj Fakieh Grilled Chicken (License No. 1043939), a restaurant at the Hamdan Centre building on Hamdan Bin Mohamed Street, for repeated violation of food safety rules.


• Food Safety Enforcement Action (China): Food quality inspectors raided steamed bun producers in Zhejiang Province, and found tens of thousands of buns containing banned dyes and other chemicals sold to local schools.


• Chinese Medicine Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Lai Sing Medicine Factory Limited recalls Prolonged Man Power Essence, as its lead level exceeds the permitted limit.


• Chinese Medicine Safety Recall (Hong Kong): Lee Sze Trading Co. recalls Lee Sze Texiao Houtong Wan, as its arsenic level exceeds the permitted limit.

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*


• Lucky Supermarkets


• Price Chopper


• Publix


• 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.

Outbreaks and Alerts: November 30, 2010

A daily digest of international outbreaks, alerts and food safety news

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United States

• Orlando, FL. November 29th: An Orlando-area woman was treated for cholera after recently moving here from Haiti, and has recovered.
• Lee County, FL. November 29th: A norovirus was responsible for sickening 69 people at the recent Take Stock in Children charity event.

Canada

• Montreal, QC. November 29th: The Canadian government has announced new regulations and amendments to an existing regulation under the Hazardous Products Act that will restrict the amount of lead in a variety of consumer products, including children's toys.

Europe

• Dublin, Ireland. November 29th: The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has released the results of its recent survey into the microbiological quality of raw chicken fillets that were distributed to butchers in gas-flushed bulk packs and sold loose to consumers. Of the 138 samples test, 15% were unsatisfactory for aerobic colony count; 8% of butchers did not provide a use-by date, as required by law; 23% of butchers provided a use-by date for which they had no basis and at least 23% provided an unrealistically long use-by date.
• Ostersund, Sweden. November 29th: Residents of Ostersund are living under a "boil water" order, and the city's water supply has been confirmed to contain Cryptosporidium. More than 2,000 people have been infected with the intestinal parasite.
• Tuva, Russia. November 29th: An outbreak of Hepatitis A has sickened 49 people in two Tuva districts. Quarantine measures have been introduced in schools and institutions.
• London, UK. November 29th: A potentially lethal strain of antibiotic-resistant E. colibacteria has been discovered at the neonatal ward at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. The department has now been closed as staff fight the outbreak.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Bongor, Chad. November 29th: As of November 24th, cholera has killed 166 people and infected 5,787 across Chad. In many cases, traditional burial rituals are contributing to the spread of the epidemic.
• Danao City, Philippines. November 29th: The Department of Health is monitoring the rising incidents of diarrhea in Danao City after at least 120 illnesses were reported. Of the 120 people who were taken to hospital, 70 remain hospitalized under treatment. Authorities have not yet traced the source of the illnesses.
• Taiwan. November 30th: Since October, 2010, a total of 15 diarrhea clusters have been reported. 7 clusters were tested positive for gastroenteritis virus infection, including 5 tested positive for norovirus infection and 2 tested positive for norovirus-rotavirus coinfection. 6 clusters occurred in schools and 1 cluster occurred in a densely populated institution. 5 clusters were tested negative for gastroenteritis virus infection. The other remaining 3 clusters are being tested. During the same period last year, 11 diarrhea clusters were reported. 9 clusters were tested positive for gastroenteritis virus infection and all 9 were positive for norovirus infection. Among the clusters, 5 occurred in schools, 1 occurred in a densely populated institution, 1 occurred in a hospital, 1 occurred in a family, and the other occurred at another site.

Australia and New Zealand

• New South Wales, Australia. November 28th: A Dominos pizza store in Quakers Hill has been fined $116,000 and its director $13,500 for multiple breaches of the New South Wales Food Act after investigations uncovered "appalling conditions" in the store.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Cordoba, Argentina. November 27th: An outbreak of trichinosis has been confirmed by the Ministry of Health, with seven cases have been reported in Cordoba City. The infection is thought to have been transmitted by consumption of sausages.
• Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. November 28th: A seventh case of cholera has been confirmed in the country, which shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti.
• Port-au-Prince, Haiti. November 29th: The Department of Public Healthreports 1,721 deaths, 75,888 cases of infection and 33,485 hospitalizations have been logged since the onset of the cholera outbreak. The origin of the epidemic has not been pinpointed, but is thought to have been imported, as the cholera strain is similar to the strain that is endemic in Asia.