Author: Tony Coveny, Ph.D

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)  has announced a Class I recall of Lemongrass Basil Chicken products from Winter Gardens Quality Foods, Inc. due to the potential that the chicken is contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. The recall announcement was first posted to the FSIS website this afternoon. A Class I recall is made when there is a “health hazard situation” in which “there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death,” according to the USDA. Lifestyle Foods Lemongrass Basil Chicken Recalled due to Listeria…

General Mills, which on the last day of May recalled tons of flour produced and sold under the Gold Medal, Wondra, and Signature Kitchens brands, today expanded its recall to include additional flour produced last fall. Flour Recall Expanded as Outbreak Case Count Grows On the first day of July, as the company “continues to collaborate with health officials to investigate a multistate outbreak of E. coli O121,”  the recall was expanded to include flour “made earlier in the fall that may still be in consumers’ pantries.” “The recall is being expanded due to a newly-reported illness that appears to have stemmed from…

Atlantic Spice Company Inc., a North Truro, Massachusetts corporation, has announced that it is recalling three snack mix with sunflower seeds due to the potential that they might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Atlantic Spice Company Inc. Recalls Three Snack Mixes The company is recalling 16 ounce packages of Sunflower Seeds Roasted  Salted, Tropical Mix and Cranberry Health Mix snacks. The recalled snack mixed were distributed nationally through mail orders and locally in the company’s retail store. The 16 ounce, clear plastic packages marked with the numbers 15 and 11 at the top right and lot numbers on the bottom right. Recalled Products…

No root cause has been identified in the Listeria outbreak tied to the Pasco, Washington production plant owner by CRF Frozen Foods Inc. In addition, no root cause of contamination has been identified, but according to all accounts – including those in local-area newspapers – the plant is planning to reopen soon. Reopened Plan Welcome Idea in Community For the 300+ workers laid off since the plant stopped operating after the waves and waves of recalls began – ultimately totaling over 350 distinct items sold under more than a dozen brand names – the fact that the plant may…

A Marshfield, Wisconsin operation is recalling two products – including Fiji Companies Nature Mix – due to the potential for Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Fiji’s Nature Mix and Hot & Spicy Cajun Mix Recalled Fiji’s Companies was notified by SunOpta that there is a distinct chance that the products are contaminated with Listeria. SunOpta sunflower kernels and sunflower seeds have been responsible for hundreds of recalls in recent months. Some of those recalls have been made public; others have remained in the private arena. The first recalled product are 16 ounce plastic bags placed in circular tin reed containers with Figi’s Nature’s Mix…

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…

Attention, West Coast Whole Foods Shoppers: Your Macadamia Nuts may be Contaminated with Salmonella Whole Foods has another recall on its hands. Only a few days removed from a recall of pasta salad contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, Whole Foods is pulling raw macadamia nuts from shelves in its California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state locations due to the possibility that the product is contaminated with Salmonella. Whole Foods’ supplier Marin Foods Specialities, Inc. initiated the recall after “routine testing conducted by an FDA-contracted laboratory . . . determined that the raw macadamia nuts” tested positive for Salmonella, according to the copy of Marin Foods’ recall announcement…

In Odessa, Texas, things are slowly returning to normal at the Ector County Health Department. Over the past two weeks, the public health officials have had their hands full dealing with an outbreak of Salmonella linked to Odessa, Texas eatery Ajuua’s Mexican Restaurant. The restaurant just wrapped up its second consecutive weekend of normal operations, and has passed all subsequent inspections by the County Health Department. Additional Ajuua’s Employees Quit, Some Stay Home as Testing Efforts Continue Last Monday, Gino Solla, Director of the Ector County Health Department, confirmed that seven restaurant employees tested positive for Salmonella bacteria. Whether the employees introduced the bacteria to the…

Any consumer in possession of Al Rasheed Sardine should not eat the product after sample testing revealed the presence of one of the most deadly foodborne bacteria – the pathogen that responsible for Botulism – on Tuesday afternoon. Instead, consumers in possession of the product should return them to the place they were purchased. Greenland Trading Corporation Recalls Al Rasheed Sardine Following Discovery of Clostridium botulinum Contamination This afternoon, Greenland Trading Corporation announced a voluntary recall for one of its products. The announcement came after the product, Al Rasheed Sardine, tested positive for one of the more rare, lethal, and certainly frightening foodborne pathogens. Testing…

Massive sunflower kernel and sunflower seed supplier SunOpta recently once again expanded its own recalls of sunflower seeds and sunflower kernels potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytotogenes, leading smaller companies such as Earnest Eats with no choice but to do the same. Indeed, the distributor and suppliers’ expanded recall has brought with it the expected cascade of new or expanded secondary or even tertiary recalls, and the Earnest Eats recall marks just one of many announcements that have already been made – or are expected to be made in coming days – that find their roots in the giant SunOpta recall. Dark…