Breading Recall for Milk Allergens Due to Cross Contact in Processing

Newly Weds Foods issued a statement that their recall for breading, which caused a number of food processors to issue a recall, was due to cross contact in the manufacturing practice at their Massachusetts manufacturing facility.  The issue was discovered by one of their seafood customers. There were other meat and poultry recalls that resulted with more than 1.3 millions pounds of product.

Meatingplace.com
http://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/73814
Newly Weds Foods issues statement on breading-related recalls 

Bread Recalled for a Piece of Rubber

HEB, the Texas based grocery chain, is recalling sandwich bread after a piece of rubber was found in what is stated as an isolated instance.

FDA Recall Notice
https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm554393.htm
H-E-B Voluntarily Issues a Precautionary Recall H-E-B and Hill Country Fare sandwich bread with a best buy date of April 29th or earlier being recalled for potential rubber in the product

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.

Canadian company recalls cheesy bread due to Listeria

A Canadian company is recalling breaded items with cheese after the product was found to have Listeria.  There have been no  illnesses associated with the bread items.

This is an interesting case because it is rare that we find a bread item with microbiological pathogen issues, especially Listeria.   However, since this is a bread item with cheese, this is what makes it different than regular bread.  Being that the Canadian recall notice is chock full  of information...not really, we can only guess how the issue occurred.  From looking at the pic, it appears the bread was cooked, sliced, and then layered with cheese.  Then, to fix the cheese to the top of the bread, it was surface heated to a point where the cheese sticks on the bread but the bread is not reheated.   So if this is the case, either the cheese was contaminated before application (either as an incoming ingredient or by the application equipment) and then the organism survived because the fixing heat was no sufficient heat to destroy the organism.  If the cheese did receive sufficient heat, then there could have been a post-process contamination event where the cheese, now on the bread, was exposed to Listeria within the environment.  Perhaps the cheese wasn't heated at all, and was just added to warm bread, making the contamination event easier to  explain.

It is hard to see this as a high risk product from the standpoint that one would expect the water activity (Aw) or available moisture of the cheese to be high enough to support growth.

One question was whether this was frozen or refrigerated?  Freezing will prevent growth of Listeria and would also mean the product would have to probably be heated before eating.  Refrigerated cheesy bread would allow growth, but would also have a limited shelf-life.  

How did they find the contamination...were they testing, and if so, why?

Would love to hear any feedback on this one.

This has implications for retail and foodservice operations who make similar breaded products (or even RTE refrigerated pizza), store it and then sell it


CFIA Recall Notice
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-03-21/eng/1395456066871/1395456090254?print=1#recall-photos
Food Recall Warning - Co-op and Market Town Co-op brands bakery products recalled due to Listeria
Recall date:    March 21, 2014
Reason for recall:    Microbiological - Listeria
Hazard classification: Class 1
Company / Firm:   Federated Co-Operatives Ltd.
Distribution: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
Extent of the distribution: Retail
Reference number: 8723
Recall details

Food Safety News - Salmonella outbreak linked to zeppoles

MB- Approximately 20 people are reported to be infected with Salmonella from the consumption of zeppoles, an Italian stuffed puff pastry. From reports, this appears to be a case of cross contamination. The empty cooked shells were reportedly stored in empty egg crates. Too often, less concern is placed upon bread items as a source for foodborne pathogens. But Salmonella can survive in dry process environments and potentially contaminate foods if proper care is not taken. Salmonella does not need to grow on the food, just be present in sufficient numbers to cause illness. In this case, Salmonella may have been present on the egg cases and was transferred to the pastry. If one had to guess, the egg crates were probably stored at room temperature, giving Salmonella a chance to grow on the unclean surface. (Makes me question the source of the eggs as well).
Tainted zeppole shells now eyed in salmonella probe
http://newsblog.projo.com/2011/03/tainted-zeppole-shells-now-eye.html
1:00 PM Sun, Mar 27, 2011
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island Department of Health has increased to 23 the number of possible salmonella cases in people who consumed zeppoles made by DeFuscos's Bakery in Johnston.
And the department now says the source of the salmonella contamination may not be just the cream used in the filling of the zeppole shells, but the shells themselves.
Andrea Bagnall-Degos, a Health Department spokeswoman, said Sunday that lab tests have confirmed 13 cases of salmonella so far among the suspected 23 reported illnesses. Thirteen people have been hospitalized; 10 remained in the hospital as of midday Sunday, she said.
DeFusco's Bakery voluntarily closed after health inspectors found that pastry cream was stored at unsafe temperature and in unsanitary conditions.
Bagnall-Degos said the health department has now determined that the bakery stored zeppole shells in used egg crates, possibly exposing the shells to raw egg residue.
"The probable source [of the salmonella contamination] is raw eggs," she said. "We're still working to find the source of the infection of the eggs."
The department is also working to determine all the locations where the zeppoles and zeppole shells were sold.
The pastries were distributed by American Bakery Supplies in West Warwick . Its customers include all five Crugnale Bakery locations in Providence, East Providence, North Providence, Cranston and Cumberland, Calvitto's Pizza & Bakery in Narragansett, Sal's Bakery in Providence, and Focaccia World in Johnston.
The health department advises that all baked goods from DeFusco's be discarded and any zeppole purchased from stores that offer DeFusco products be discarded immediately.
The first reported case of illness was March 21, two days after St. Joseph's Day.
Anyone who has fallen ill, particularly with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after eating baked goods purchased from DeFusco's or zeppole from any of the stores where the baked goods are sold, should contact a doctor, the Health Department warned.

In general, it takes one to three days for a salmonella infection to produce symptoms, including nausea, cramps, diarrhea and fever. The illness generally lasts four to seven days and can be especially severe in the very young, the elderly and anyone whose immune system is weak. When hospitalization occurs, it's usually because the diarrhea has become severe, according to a fact sheet from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.