National Frozen Foods Corporation is in the process of recalling “a limited quantity of Not-Ready-To-Eat frozen green peas and frozen mixed vegetables” due to the potential that the vegetables are contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially fatal bacteria that poses a substantial threat to the elderly, young children, pregnant women, and those with immune systems that are already otherwise compromised (for example, chemotherapy patients).
The Seattle, Washington-based corporation itself discovered the contamination in the process of testing samples for foodborne pathogens. The recall was a result of a routine sample “tested by the company which revealed that the finished products [could] potentially be contaminated” with Listeria, states the company’s updated recall notice.
The company processes and distributes products for other entities, meaning that secondary recalls of potentially contaminated products along the lines of what occurred. and continues to occur. with respect to the CRF Frozen Foods recall are likely. In other words, additional related recalls will likely be announced by other companies as they determine that they used frozen vegetables that are subject to this recall in their products.
Description and Distribution of Recalled Products
The updated recall notice issued by National Frozen Foods Corporation on Wednesday morning identified six brands with at least one product on the recall list: Bountiful Harvest, First Street, Great Value, Live Smart, Market Pantry and Sprouts. All of the recalled brands are store-affiliated, including Walmart’s Great Value; Schwan’s Live Smart; Reinhart Foodservice’s Bountiful Harvest; Sprouts’ Farmers Market; Target’s Market Pantry; and Smart & Final’s First Street.
The products subject to the recall were distributed to retail stores nationwide from September 2nd, 2015 through June 2nd of this year, and may be identified by date codes printed on the side of the master case or, in the case of retail sized bags, on the back of the bag.
No Details Regarding Recalled Products Sold Commercially and to Foreign Food Service Purchasers
National Frozen Foods Corporation also recalled additional products distributed in bulk containers to food service customers in the United States; however, the company opted not to include a list or description of those products on the press release distributed to retail customers and consumers.
The company further distributed – and recalled – products to “food service accounts” in the countries of Canada and Japan. Unlike the products distributed to such accounts in the United States, however, it does not appear that the products shipped to food service accounts in Canada and Japan were shipped in bulk containers. National Frozen Foods Corporation continued the trend established to this point, and declined to provide additional details regarding the products distributed in Canada and Japan, stating that “this press release does not include recalled products distributed to food service accounts in bulk containers and recalled products distributed to food service accounts in Canada and Japan.”
To Dispose or Not Dispose, or, Does Proper Cooking Make Recalled Products Safe for Consumption?
As far as specific disposal instructions, the initial and updated press releases contain the same contradictory guidance related to disposal (or lack thereof) of the products on the recall list. In the second to last paragraph, both notices state that
“[consumers] should not consume these products,” and promises customers who “purchased affected products [that they] may return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.”
Despite the closing admonition not to consume any recalled products, the second paragraph of National Frozen Food’s release – both the initial and updated versions – reads as follows:
“Following cooking preparation instructions on the labels will effectively reduce the risk of exposure to this bacterium.”
This seems to clearly indicate that, if cooked properly, the vegetables and peas will adequately decrease the risk of consuming the recalled foods. Given the later statement instructing consumers not to eat any of the recalled product, it remains unclear what the purpose of the first statement is, and whether the message being conveyed is that the contaminated vegetables can be made safe enough to eat if properly prepared.
The same language appears in a press release issued by New York company HelloFresh. The release announces the recall of frozen peas “due to notification from a supplier that the peas have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.” According to the company,
“no illnesses or customer complaints have been reported to date, however, in an abundance of caution, the company has decided to conduct this voluntary recall [and] informed their affected customers of the recall and advised them to discard the product. Following the cooking preparation instructions printed on each individual case will effectively reduce the risk of exposure to this bacterium.”
Dr. Ben Chapman, associate professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University, questioned and challenged HelloFresh on the claim that following cooking instructions would reduce the risk of infection by simply asking the company to “show [its] validated consumer preparation instructions that lead to the effective reduction” of the risk of exposure to Listeria bacteria.
As far as Food Poisoning News has been able to ascertain, HelloFresh did not provide such information to Dr. Chapman or any other individual, though this has not been confirmed as Dr. Chapman was unavailable for comment.
Recalled Peas and Vegetables
A list of National Frozen Foods products affected by the recall appears below; however, only items with lot information and/or date codes matching those on the list published by the company and posted on the FDA website are subject to the recall.
Limited quantities of the following products are being recalled by National Frozen Foods:
- Bountiful Harvest (sold by Reinhart Foodservice)
- Bountiful Harvest Green Beans
- First Street (sold by Smart & Final)
- First Street Green Peas in 20 and 40 oz. sizes
- Great Value (sold by Walmart)
- Great Value Mixed Vegetables in 12 and 25 oz. sizes
- Great Value Steamable Mixed Vegetables
- Great Value Sweet Peas in 12 and 26 oz. sizes
- Live Smart (sold by Schwan’s)
- Live Smart Mixed Vegetables
- Market Pantry (sold by Target)
- Market Pantry Mixed Vegetables
- Market Pantry Steamable Mixed Vegetables
- Market Pantry Steam-In-Bag Mixed Vegetables
- Market Pantry Sweet Peas
- Sprouts Farmers Market (sold by Schwan’s Farmers Market)
- Sprouts Farmers Market Mixed Vegetables.
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