Bread Company Retracts Recall After Negative Confirmation for Listeria monocytogenes

A Ohio bread company cancelled a recall after discovering that the Listeria organism they found was not the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.

Why were they doing Listeria testing in the first place?  Listeria has not been shown to be a hazard in bread products.  The water activity is too low to support growth and the environment is not one that would be conducive to allow the organism to be a big concern.  Salmonella would be a better choice if you really wanted to do environmental testing.

Perhaps a customer requirement where the bread products would be used in premade sandwiches?  Or it was part of a third party audit requirement where some less-than-knowledgeable inspector told then they had to do Listeria testing.  (The latter would be a more likely case....always question auditors when they require you to do something that does not make sense). 

Why did they conduct a recall based on environmental testing results that were not confirmed?  This is another question that is difficult to figure out.  Before you begin testing for a pathogen in the environment, know the implications of what you will do when you find it.   First there is timing - in cases there a positive result can trigger a recall, be sure to use rapid tests that have a higher degree of differentiation.  Second - a program should be set up so that you are not just testing product contact surfaces (which is probably the only time where an environmental positive sample warrants a recall).  So were they testing product contact surfaces or plant surfaces? 

It seems the company had not put sufficient thought into the various scenarios that can occur when a positive is found.  Again, the company may have been doing this to comply with some audit requirement, rather than really understanding the real risks associated with their operation and the implications of positive test results.

It is also equally important to understand your supplier's testing programs.  If your supplier is doing testing, it is important that you know that they know what they are doing is correct.



Columbus Dispatch
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2014/07/23/schwebel-and-giant-eagle-breads-recalled.html
Schwebel’s says recalled bread poses no health risk

By Lisa Abraham The Columbus Dispatch • Thursday July 24, 2014 2:35 AM 

With tests having determined that the bacteria found at Schwebel Baking Co.’s Youngstown bakery is not harmful, the plant is expected to resume full production today.

The Youngstown-based company on Tuesday issued a voluntary recall of a host of bread products after listeria was found during routine environmental testing at the bakery.

Yesterday, the company said test results from a third-party laboratory showed that the listeria poses no public-health risk. The bacteria, Schwebel’s said, is not listeria monocytogenes, which can cause severe illness in pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.

“Full production at the Youngstown facility is expected to resume within 24 hours,” company President Paul Schwebel said in a statement. “We remain focused on consumer safety. That goal guides our current efforts to get our Youngstown bakery back online and will allow us to produce our full range of products for loyal customers.”

On the heels of the recall, Giant Eagle yesterday pulled Schwebel’s breads from store shelves along with Giant Eagle brands of bread and rolls made at Schwebel’s Youngstown plant.

The products in question can be identified by the code number near the “best by” date on packages. Any number beginning with the letter “A” is part of the recall.

The products were shipped directly to retail outlets, restaurants and institutions in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia, according to a company news release.

Products made at the company’s three other bakeries — in Cuyahoga Falls, Hebron and Solon — were unaffected by the recall.

Schwebel’s release said that after the listeria was found, the company halted production at the bakery, stopped shipments and alerted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Those with recalled products are asked to return them to the place of purchase for a refund.