Uncle Ben's Infused Rice recalled due to a cluster of illnesses

Mars Foodservice is recalling Uncle Ben’s industrial sized bags (5 lb and 25 lb) of Infused Rice products after Infused Rice Mexican Flavor was linked to a cluster illnesses. The illness appears to be a chemical issue in that the symptoms occur quickly, 30 to 90 minutes after consumption. Symptoms include a red burning/itching rash, headache, nausea, and flushness of the skin. There are three reported outbreaks impacting approximately 70 people, mostly children.

FDA NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Feb. 10, 2014
Media Inquiries: Theresa Eisenman, 301-796-2805, theresa.eisenman@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 1-888-INFO-FDA
FDA warns against using Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice

Mars Foodservices recalls all lot numbers of Infused Rice linked to recent illness in Texas

Fast Facts

Government officials are investigating a cluster of illnesses associated with Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice Mexican Flavor sold in 5- and 25-pound bags.
Out of an abundance of caution, the FDA is warning food service companies and consumers not to use any Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice products sold in 5- and 25-pound bags.
These products are sold to food service companies that typically distribute to restaurants, schools, hospitals and other commercial establishments. However, the products may be available over the Internet and at warehouse-type retailers.
Food service companies and consumers who have purchased the products should not use the rice, and should return it to their point of purchase or dispose of it.
Uncle Ben’s Brand Ready to Heat, Boxed, Bag or Cup products sold at grocery stores and other retail outlets are not being recalled.

What is the Problem and What is Being Done about the Problem?

The FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local officials have been investigating a cluster of illnesses associated with Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice Mexican Flavor sold in 5- and 25-pound bags.

On Feb. 7, 2014, the FDA’s Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network (CORE) was notified of a cluster of illnesses at three public schools in Katy, Texas. Thirty-four students and four teachers experienced burning, itching rashes, headaches and nausea for 30 to 90 minutes, before the symptoms went away. Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice Mexican Flavor with the lot number 351EKGRV01, made by Mars Foodservices of Greenville, Miss., was the common food item eaten by ill students.

On Dec. 4, 2013, the Illinois Department of Public Health notified CDC of 25 children with similar skin reactions following a school lunch that served an Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice product. North Dakota reported a similar incident that occurred on Oct. 30, 2013. Three children in a daycare and one college student experienced flushing reactions 45 minutes after consuming an Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice product.

Subway Restaurants removes dough conditioning chemical azodicarbonamide

Subway is removing azodicarbonamide, a dough conditioning chemical, from its bread formulation. This chemical can be found in bread sold by numerous retailers and foodservice establishments, however Subway was targeted because of its good nutrition stance.

FDA does allow this product to be used in bread applications. From the Code of Federal Regulations:

172.806 Azodicarbonamide.
The food additive azodicarbonamide may be safely used in food in accordance with the following prescribed conditions:
(a) It is used or intended for use:
(1) As an aging and bleaching ingredient in cereal flour in an amount not to exceed 2.05 grams per 100 pounds of flour (0.0045 percent; 45 parts per million).
(2) As a dough conditioner in bread baking in a total amount not to exceed 0.0045 percent (45 parts per million) by weight of the flour used, including any quantity of azodicarbonamide added to flour in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
(b) To assure safe use of the additive:
(1) The label and labeling of the additive and any intermediate premix prepared therefrom shall bear, in addition to the other information required by the Act, the following:
(i) The name of the additive.
(ii) A statement of the concentration or the strength of the additive in any intermediate premixes.
(2) The label or labeling of the food additive shall also bear adequate directions for use.

 Much of the hullabaloo made is that for these reasons: 

1) the chemical is also used in non-food applications such as yoga mats……however, you can find that many chemicals used in our foods are also used in non-food applications.

2) a breakdown product of azodicarbonamide is semicarbazide, a potential hazard…… however, that is formed in the formation of plastic bottles and sealants, but any formation in bread is very low risk.

3) The chemical can be hazardous….but only in applications when working with the chemical with the potential of breathing it in in massive doses, not at 45 ppm.

Presented below are two stories, one from CNN and the other from the Huffington Post. Which one provides a more balanced view? Not CNN. As pointed out in the Huffington piece, people will not need to worry. So no need to worry, it is unlikely that Jared will have to worry about his Subway diet.

I guess this is the trend now…to identify any ingredient that has a long, unidentifiable chemical formula name and that is used in some non-food application. How about this one - dihydrogen monoxide is found in a multitude of applications, both food and non-food… including the manufacturer of cleaning compounds. Additionally, it has been involved in deaths, including a woman who died after drinking 6 liters of it in 3 hours. Time for a ban?

It is funny, on one hand, people want more government intervention into making safe food, but on the other hand, they don’t trust what the government, namely FDA and EPA, have done. 


Subway to remove 'dough conditioner' chemical from bread

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
updated 1:23 PM EST, Thu February 6, 2014
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/health/subway-bread-chemical/

(CNN) -- Take a look at ingredients for some varieties of Subway's bread and you'll find a chemical that may seem unfamiliar and hard to pronounce: azodicarbonamide.

Bacon Jam recalled - failure to understand acidified foods

A Canadian company is recalling bacon jam after testing by Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) indicated that the product may permit the growth of Clostridium botulinum, a toxin producing bacteria responsible for causing botulism.

When developing products such as this, it is important that those products have product parameters in place (we often refer to them as hurdles) to prevent C. botulinum growth and toxin production.

• Having an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or less.  Equilibrium pH means that all components in the product must have reached this limit in 24 hours or less after processing.
• Having a low water activity of less than 0.85.  Water activity is a term used for the available moisture.  This water activity (or Aw) must be stable through time and consistent throughout the product.
• Having a preservative package (one or more preservatives that are added taking into account the food matrix)

Designing one or more of these parameters into the finished product will not necessary create a shelf-stable product, so in some cases, products will still need to be refrigerated.  It is also important that these product will need to receive a heat treatment.  For more information, you can review FDA's guidance on Acidified Foods.

 

Jarred or bottled foods have been the food-of-choice for many entrepreneurs.  Product types include salsas, barbeque sauces, salad dressings, jams and jellies, and pickled products. There are a number of reasons including longer shelf-life, ease of processing and the ability to find niches within the market place (although is one guy's salad dressing that much better than one you buy at the store).   It is important that food product developers, especially novices, understand how product and process parameters impact food safety.  I guess Brad did not do his best efforts in understanding this.

  

  

Calgary Herald

Bacon jam recalled in Alberta over botulism concerns

http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Bacon+recalled+Alberta+over+botulism+concerns/9471881/story.html

By David Blackwell, Calgary Herald February 5, 2014

 

A brand of bacon jam is being recalled in Alberta after testing indicated it could contain the bacteria that causes botulism.

 

Kitchen by Brad Smoliak brand bacon spread is being removed from the marketplace after Canadian Food Inspection Agency tests revealed it may permit the growth of Clostridium botulinum.

Poll - Americans think more oversight will lessen their fears of unsafe food

Results from The Harris Poll indicate that people are concerned about the safety of their food and that food recalls are an issue.  In light of this, many feel that more government is needed.

It would be interesting to ask people some different questions:
Have actually become sick from food, provided they really know the symptoms of foodborne illness?  In our informal polling, we find that very few have had foodborne illness in their lives, never mind in the last few years.
Do you actually worry about the food currently in your house?  Again, most we talk with say no.

In this report, it is interesting that people rarely blame their own actions, but rather look to the few cases of foodborne illness that arise (mostly because of the amount of press that accompanies it), where it was indeed some big companies fault.

They also look at local food as inherently more safe...which as we know, is not necessarily the case.

Each day, 300 million people eat 2 to 3 meals a day (hopefully),  and yet we focus on that on those few cases that occurred somewhere in the nation within the past month.

This is not to say we can't do better.  Certainly each link along the food chain has to their part to ensure safety and quality of the food, including the consumer.

In the end, will the cost of additional oversight actually reduce the real risk of unsafe foods, or even the perceived risk?

(I hate news reports on polling people….it almost adds credence to what people already think even if it is wrong…for example a poll finds that out of 2000 people, most think that sasquatches exist…hell, that many people can’t be wrong, maybe they do exist ).

PR Newswire
Nearly Three-Quarters of Americans Looking to Government for More Food Safety Oversight
Vast majority at least somewhat concerned about food health and/or safety recallshttp://www.einpresswire.com/article/188993634/nearly-three-quarters-of-americans-looking-to-government-for-more-food-safety-oversight
PR Newswire
NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Food recall announcements have become something of a news cycle staple in the past few years. From spinach and peanut butter to chicken and pet foods, there seems to be little left in the U.S. food supply that should not be viewed with at least a modicum of suspicion. As such, it's likely not surprising that strong majorities of U.S. adults say food recalls have them at least somewhat concerned (86%, with 58% somewhat concerned and 28% seriously concerned) and believe there should be more government oversight in regards to food safety (73%). 

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll® of 2,236 adults surveyed online between January 15 and 20, 2014. (Full results, including data tables, available can be found here)

Food recall concerns – and calls for increased government oversight where the food supply is concerned – are stronger among some subsets of Americans than others:
Women are more likely than men to indicate being both seriously (31% women, 25% men) and somewhat (61% and 55%, respectively) concerned; they are also more likely than their male counterparts to believe there should be more government oversight in regards to food safety (77% and 69%, respectively).
Americans in low income households – specifically households with an annual income under $35,000 – are more likely than those in higher earning households to describe food recalls as a serious concern (36% in households earning <$35k, 21% in households earning $35k-$49,999, 26% in $50k+ households).
Turning to political leanings, Democrats (32%) are more likely than Republicans (25%) to characterize food recalls as a serious concern. The call for more government oversight rings most loudly from the Democrats' camp (86%) and least so from Republicans (60%), with Independents in the middle (70%).

Bean Day goes bad for dozens of patrons who become infected with Salmonella

About 50 people become ill from Salmonella after attending Bean Day, an annual fundraising event in Alabama.

A number of issues were identified in the county health department's inspection report:

• Soaking the beans in a plastic-lined horse trough covered with plywood, with a water hose running water through the trough (the ADPH did not know if or how the trough, which was located at the church, had been used prior to the dinner)
• Handling food without gloves;
• Turning off the heat source for the beans and disconnecting gas lines for burners without monitoring the temperature of the food;
• Transferring the beans in outside cooking pots to a smaller iron pot on wheels to take large quantities of the beans inside the church;
• Using one sterno can per 6-inch-deep chaffing pan to maintain the holding temperature of the beans;
• Re-using chaffing pans and adding new beans to existing beans throughout the serving time. Illness sweeps

While the soaking of the beans in a plastic-line horse trough seems like the worst violation, this may be overstating its true involvement - because one, it was not currently used to water horses but was located there at the church where the fundraiser occurred;  and two, that proper cooking would have eliminated the contamination.

But looking at the sum of errors, one could see a laxness in the use of food safety procedures, indicating there may be a additional factors that may have contributed to this outbreak. 


Health Dept.: Beans soaked in horse trough Dozens taken ill after annual event
By Jean Cole jean@athensnews-courier.com
The News Courier Sun Feb 02, 2014, 02:00 AM CST

— The final report on the Bean Day salmonella outbreak that left a dozen people hospitalized and scores of people ill last October may make some Limestone County residents cringe.

 A nine-page study issued by the Alabama Department of Public Health and obtained Friday by The News Courier reveals that uncooked beans for the annual fundraiser had been soaked in a plastic-lined horse trough covered with plywood before the event and that existing bean soup was topped off with new bean soup during the event.

Those are just some of the possible ways the beans became contaminated with salmonella senftenberg, according to the report. An estimated 250 to 300 people ate food prepared for the Oct. 4 dinner hosted by the Athens-Limestone Foundation for Aging and held at First Baptist Church Family Life Center in Athens. The menu included white beans with ham, onions, vinegar-based coleslaw, cornbread, soft drinks and a variety of homemade desserts.

FDA publishes Draft Approach for the Determination of High-Risk Foods

FDA released a draft of the approach it will take in determining which foods are considered high risk. This methodology is required under Sec. 204, Enhanced Tracking and Tracing of Food and Recordkeeping, has two major requirements. In this section, FDA must establish rules for recordkeeping requirements for high risk foods to help in tracing products. The requirement is designed to enable foods to be more rapidly and effectively tracked and traced during a foodborne illness outbreak or other event. Criterion for this determination are: outbreak frequency, illness occurrence, severity of illness, the likelihood of microbial or chemical contamination, potential for the food to support pathogen growth, food consumption patterns, the probability of contamination and steps taken during manufacturing to reduce contamination.

So what are the implications?  Basically if a company's food is designated high risk, they will need to follow mandated tracking procedures...whatever those turn out to be.


Draft Methodological Approach to Identifying High-Risk Foods under Section 204(d)(2) of the FSMA

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm380210.htm?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

FDA is required under section 204(d)(2) of FSMA to designate high-risk foods for which additional recordkeeping requirements are appropriate and necessary in order to rapidly and effectively track and trace such foods during a foodborne illness outbreak or other event. This is the first step towards meeting that requirement. FDA plans to publish a list of these high-risk foods either before or at the same time that it issues a proposed rule under section 204(d)(1) of FSMA to establish the recordkeeping requirements for the designated high-risk foods.

FDA Proposes Transportation Rule as Part of FSMA

 FDA released their proposed rule for Sanitary Transportation of Food as part of FSMA.  This rule applies, with a few exceptions, to any who transport food that will be consumed in the U.S.  Exemptions exist small companies (less than $500,000 in sales) and those who transport shelf-stable foods that are protected by a container (i.e. canned low-acid foods).

 As part of the rule, equipment will need to designed and maintained so it does not cause food contamination, measures are taken to prevent contamination of food during transport (i.e. temperature control, separation of food from non-food items), records to show temperature control and proper cleaning between loads, training of personnel engaged in the transportation of food, and maintenance of written procedures and records.

 

FDA News Release

Proposed Rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food

 

http://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/ConstituentUpdates/ucm383900.htm

 

January 31, 2014

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today proposed a rule that would require certain shippers, receivers, and carriers who transport food by motor or rail vehicles to take steps to prevent the contamination of human and animal food during transportation. Part of the implementation of the Sanitary Food Transportation Act of 2005, the proposal marks the seventh and final major rule in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) central framework aimed at systematically building preventive measures across the food system.

 

The proposed regulation would establish criteria for sanitary transportation practices, such as properly refrigerating food, adequately cleaning vehicles between loads, and properly protecting food during transportation.

Jensen brothers sentenced for selling Listeria-contaminated cantaloupes that killed 33 people

The Jensen brothers were sentenced to five years' probation, including six months in home detention and a ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution in connection with the selling Listeria-contaminated cantaloupes that killed 33 people.

 

At sentencing, cantaloupe growers apologize for deadly listeria outbreak
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/28/justice/cantaloupe-listeria-deaths-sentencing/
By Ray Sanchez, CNN
updated 8:11 PM EST, Tue January 28, 2014

(CNN) -- A pair of Colorado farmers were sentenced Tuesday to five years' probation, including six months in home detention, for their role in a 2011 listeriosis outbreak that killed roughly three dozen Americans who consumed infected cantaloupe, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Brothers Eric and Ryan Jensen, who grew up cultivating cantaloupes on Jensen Farms, a fixture in the dry plains of southeastern Colorado since the early 1900s, also were sentenced to 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution in connection with the deadliest food outbreak in the United States in nearly 100 years.

Each apologized in court to the victims' families.

Cat food recalled due to the Salmonella contamination

 PMI Nutrition is recalling its Red Flannel Cat Food after product tested positive for Salmonella.  The testing was conducted by FDA.

While there can be risk to the pet, the bigger risk is to the consumers who are handling the Salmonella-contaminated pet food.

This product was produced for PMI by a contract manufacturer.



FDA News Release
PMI Nutrition, LLC Recalls Red Flannel® Cat Food Due to Possible Salmonella Contamination
 http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm383066.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 25, 2014 - PMI Nutrition, LLC (PMI), Arden Hills, Minn., has initiated a voluntary recall of its 20 lb. bags of Red Flannel® Cat Formula cat food for possible Salmonella contamination. There have been no reports of illness related to this product to date. This recall is being issued out of an abundance of caution after routine testing by the FDA Detroit District Office identified possible Salmonella contamination.