Recalls

A possible trace level milk contamination has led to the recall of Tofutti Brands Yours Truly cones, labeled milk-free, according to a press release by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. People "who have an allergy or severe sensitivity or intolerance to milk products run the risk of serious or life-threatening injury if they consume products with milk ingredients," the FDA states.

This is a precautionary recall of 25 pallets of cones, which were sold along the East Coast and Midwest. The UPC code on the recalled products is: UPC 0-20188-01500-9.

Consumers with further questions can call Tofutti Brands at 908-272-2400, or email them at info@tofutti.com.

A nationwide recall of 72,000 pounds of canned chicken salad was issued December 5th, through the U.S. Department Food Safety and Inspection Service, CNN reported. Small pieces of loose plastic were found in the packaging, prompting the recall.

The recall is for 8.2-ounce packages of the "Bumble Bee Lunch on the Run Chicken Salad Complete Lunch Kit" and 3.5-ounce packages of "Bumble Bee Chicken Salad with Crackers," according to the USDA statement. The Suter Company, producer of the products, is based in Sycamore, Illinois, but its products are sold nationwide.

"The recalled products -- which have a August 2011 "best-by" date for the lunch kit, and February 2012 corresponding date for the cracker package -- were put together and shipped out to distributors and stores between August 14 and 28 of this year," reports CNN

The FSIS release notes that there are no reports of people getting hurt or sick as a result of the "foreign materials.

For more information, see the Bumble Bee Foods website, or the FSIS release.

Two brands of nutmeg (sold in all 50 states) are being recalled voluntarily because they "have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Frontier Natural Products Co-op is recalling two brands: Frontier Brand Nutmeg (sold in 16 oz. bulk packages), and Whole Foods 365 Brand Nutmeg (1.92 oz. package), both originally supplied by Mincing Overseas Spice Company. According to the FDA press release, "Consumption of products containing salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain."

The FDA says that customers who have purchased the Frontier brand nutmeg may contact Frontier with any questions or to inquire about replacement or reimbursement at 1-800-669-3275 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Customers who have purchased the Whole Foods 365 brand nutmeg (sold in 1.92 oz jars) may contact their local Whole Foods Market regarding reimbursement. More information and images of the products are available from Frontier at: http://www.frontiercoop.com/recall/nutmeg.

The U.S.D.A. today announced the recall by New Braunfels Smokehouse of 2,600 pounds of cooked, ready-to-eat smoked turkey breast, reports CBS News. The meat from the Texas-based meat processor may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The following products are being recalled, according to the CBS report:

* 1-pound packages of New Branufels Smokehouse Sliced Smoked Turkey labeled with package code 2210;

* 4- to 6-pound packages of New Braunfels Honey-Glazed Spiral Sliced Smokehouse Hickory Smoked Boneless Breast of Turkey with package code 2180;

* 4- to 6-pound whole breast packages of Stegall Boneless Hickory Smoked Turkey Breast with package code 2210;

* 4- to 6-pound whole breast packages of Stegall Spiral Sliced Hickory Smoked Turkey Breast with package codes 2180 or 2210.

Each package bears the USDA mark of inspection and the number P-975.

The packages were produced on August 4, 2010, and distributed nationwide.

More than 288,000 eggs from Ohio Fresh Eggs were recalled yesterday after testing positive for salmonella, Fox News reports. They were sent to Cal-Maine, which calls itself the largest producer and distributor of shell eggs in the U.S. Although the salmonella was detected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October, Fox reports, "some of the eggs were processed and repackaged by Cal-Maine's Green Forest, Arkansas, facility between October 9 and 12, 2010, yet Cal-Maine was only notified on November 5th." Wholesalers in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas received the eggs, but thus far no illness has been reported. For more information on the recall, see Cal-Maine's press release.

The Pictsweet Company announced today a voluntary recall of certain codes of store-brand products containing frozen green peas, after the company learned that some of the packages may contain glass fragments, which may cause injury if ingested. No injuries have yet been reported.

Products subject to this recall were distributed only to Kroger stores in the Southeast United States and to Walmart stores throughout the United States. Find a complete list of items after the jump.

While the Senate holds off on the new food safety bill -- now pushed into next year, it seems -- we have another recall to report.

Charleston, Ore.-based seafood company Hallmark Fisheries has recalled packaged crab meat products -- under brand names Hallmark, Peacock, Quality Ocean International and Yaquina Bay -- for the potential contamination of Listeria monocytogenes.

Recalled products were distributed in the following states ...

Over the past 70 years, the U.S. has seen drastic changes in food operation, including the introduction of industrial agriculture and mass foodborne illnesses. And yet standards set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have barely changed, save for the USDA's and FDA's joint egg inspection plan introduced on July 9th.

The outdated rules have left the FDA with insufficient funds and without authority to order recalls -- that call, believe it or not, is left to the individual companies, which often wait too long, resulting in a slew of consumer illness reports. A new bill -- the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) -- would finally update standards and give the FDA the power it now needs to better moderate our current system, including conducting more frequent inspections of high-risk facilities. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives over a year ago, on July 30, 2009, and has been sitting with the Senate ever since.

Zemco Industries, a division of Tyson Foods, is recalling about 380,000 pounds -- 172 metric tons -- of deli meat it sold to Wal-Mart Stores because it may be contaminated with a deadly bacteria.

The meat, produced between June 18 to July 2, with "Use By" dates ranging from Aug. 20 to Sept. 10, is being recalled for possible Lysteria monocytogenes contamination, Bloomberg News reported.

The meats were distributed to delis that then used them to make some "Marketside Grab and Go" deli sandwiches.

In May, salmonella cases related to contaminated eggs began to mount across the country and continue to grow today. At the center of this outbreak, the United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) and the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.), two overlapping yet disparately tasked entities, were responsible for the overseeing of this food system.

As of July 9, the U.S.D.A. and the F.D.A. began to jointly oversee egg manufacturers including food safety inspections, but prior to the outbreak, the two institutions monitored entirely different sectors of egg production. Before the new standards, the U.S.D.A. took responsibility for the inspection of chickens and their living conditions, whereas the F.D.A. surveyed chicken feed and the eggs produced. Somewhere between the two, something slipped through the cracks.

Aimed to prevent such large scale outbreaks, the F.D.A. and U.S.D.A. will now both oversee egg production, which will "prevent each year approximately 79,000 cases of foodborne illness and 30 deaths caused by consumption of eggs contaminated with the bacterium Salmonella Enteritidis," according to the U.S.D.A. If successful, this would be a nearly 60 percent reduction in egg-related salmonella illnesses.