More HVP Products Recalled for Salmonella

Three more companies are recalling foods that may have been contaminated with Salmonella-tainted hydrolyzed vegetable protein made by Las Vegas-based Basic Food Flavors.

Procter and Gamble is recalling Restaurant Cravers Cheeseburger and Family Faves Taco Night Pringles. Nestle Professional North America issued a recall for about 6,000 pounds of ready-to-eat bacon, and Ruiz Foods is recalling ready-to-eat beef, Food Safety News reported.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a massive recall of HVP products from Basic Food Flavors last week. HVP is a a salty and savory flavor enhancer used in many processed foods.
The latest batch of recalls come after the FDA's investigation into the contamination showed that the HVP ingredient was added to these foods after Salmonella-prevention steps were taken, FSN reported.

The FDA investigated the Basic Food Flavoring processing plant after a customer tested a batch of HVP it purchased from the company and found Salmonella Tennessee bacteria. FDA inspectors found "light-brown residue" and "dark-brown liquid" on and near where the company makes food additives like HVP. Inspectors also found brown residue in a plastic pipe used to make food ingredients, Food Safety News reported.

Basic Foods learned Salmonella was found in its facility on Jan. 21, but continued production until Feb. 15, FSN reported.

So far, no illnesses related to the Salmonella have been reported to the FDA, spokeswoman Rita Chappelle told Slashfood. Consumers should also check www.foodsafety.gov daily to see updates to the list of recalled products. Consumers with recalled products are instructed to throw them away.

In the meantime, the FDA is lobbying for legislation that would expand its powers to help control and regulate potential food safety issues, Chappelle told Slashfood.

"We would require that companies have a preventive control system in place, and that preventive control would be one in which they would have to test products at their sites of manufacture to make sure that there are no contaminates in the product before it ever leaves their building," she said.

The FDA also wants mandatory recall authority. "Right now a company does not have to recall a product. It's voluntary and we cannot force them."

Related: What is Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein?