FSMA Food Safety Requirements for Transportation Coming Soon

The final rule for food safety requirements for transportation are coming on March 31st with implementation due in 2017.

While the transportation industry is probably doing much of what will be required, the requirements for documentation will be the biggest change.

The main focuses will be on:

• Written procedures
• Temperature control and its documentation, including pre-cooling of truck for refrigerated loads.
• Training - the final rule will state what will be required to meet the training requirement.
• Truck cleanliness
• Record transfer and maintenance

Fleet Owner
http://fleetowner.com/fleet-management/new-food-safety-rules-pose-impact-refrigerated-carriers
New food safety rules pose impact for refrigerated carriers
Final rule due March 31, with enforcement to begin in 2017.
Mar 14, 2016Sean Kilcarr | Fleet Owner

Refrigerated carriers face a bevy of new mandates governing not only the condition and operation of equipment used transport foodstuffs but the capture and preservation of shipment temperatures, along with driver training requirements, due to go into effect March 31.

Frozen Dinners and Pizza Products Recalled for Potential Contamination with Glass Pieces

Nestle is recalling frozen dinners and pizza products that spinach because that spinach may have had glass pieces.  The products are under the DiGiorno®, Lean Cuisine®, and Stouffer’s® brands.

 

This appears to be a supplier related issue.  Unfortunately, so many national brands were affected.  This is a great example of how a single supplier source of a somewhat minor ingredient can a huge impact. 

   

FDA News Release

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm490200.htm

Nestlé USA Announces Voluntary Recall of a Limited Number of DiGiorno® Pizzas, Lean Cuisine® and Stouffer’s® Products Due to the Potential Presence of Foreign Material

 

Chicken Nuggets Recalled for Small Clear Plastic Pieces

 Purdue Foods is recalling 4500 lbs of chicken nuggets after receiving complaints of  "small, solid, clear plastic inside the Applegate Naturals Chicken Nuggets".  There have not been any reports of adverse effects.

USDA News Release
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-023-2016-release
Perdue Foods LLC, Recalls Chicken Nugget Products Due To Possible Foreign Matter Contamination

Class I Recall 023-2016
Health Risk: High Mar 5, 2016

Congressional and Public Affairs  Kristen Booze   (202) 720-9113 Press@fsis.usda.gov  

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2016 – Perdue Foods LLC, a Gainesville, Ga. establishment, is recalling approximately 4,530 pounds of chicken nugget products (produced for Applegate Farms) that may be contaminated with extraneous plastic materials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Apple Sauce Pouches Recalled due to Goop in the Processing Pumps

Materne North America is recalling their GoGo squeeZ applesauce pouches after our friends at MDARD (Michigan State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development)  discovered  product residue  (also known as 'goop*') in two product pumps, and this may have contaminated product.  This goop can occur if  the system is not adequately cleaned.  While goop can be comprised by many things, it is often rotting product matter with mold, yeast, and/or bacteria as part of the micro flora responsible for the breakdown of that product.

A big concerns is that this product is targeted at children.

*Goop, in this case, is the classic definition - sloppy or sticky semifluid matter, typically something unpleasant.  It is not the commercial product used for skin care.

 


FDA Recall Notice
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm489314.htm
Voluntary Recall of Non Organic Gogo Squeez Applesauce Pouches
For Immediate Release
March 4, 2016

Starbucks Supplier Recalls Pre-Packaged Breakfast Sandwiches After Listeria Positive Food Contact Surface

A supplier for Starbucks is recalling pre-packaged breakfast sandwiches after that supplier had  positive sample result on a food contact surface.  While product did not test positive, a positive contact surface indicates the possibility that product could have been cross contaminated.

In assessing the risk, there are a few things to note.  For one, the sandwich is shipped and stored frozen.  While this will prevent growth during shipment,  if the product is thawed and held for a period of days before use, there can be time for the organism to grow.  As the number of organisms increases, this not only increases the chances of organisms surviving a heat treatment, but it also increases the risk of cross-contamination to other foods and food contact surfaces within the store environment as that product is handled.

These sandwich products would be heated by the store before serving, potentially lowering the chance of contamination.  However, with heat-and-serve product,  the heating process may not be controlled well enough or be hot enough to ensure complete destruction of the organism.

The next question will be on how good the facility's Listeria Control Program is.  If the program is good and this happens to be an outlier, than this recall may be it.  But if FDA finds little testing results to indicate a solid program, or they find a series of positive results with insufficient corrective action, they believe there is a higher risk and then push for additional recalls.


NBC News.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/sandwiches-recalled-starbucks-stores-over-listeria-concerns-n533356
Sandwiches Recalled from Starbucks Stores Over Listeria Concerns
Mar 7 2016, 2:03 pm ET
by Lucy Bayly

A food supplier has recalled pre-packaged sausage, egg, and cheddar cheese on English muffin breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks stores in Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma over concerns that the products may contain traces of listeria.

Orangegate - Packaging of Pre-Peeled Oranges

Whole Foods took some criticism for selling pre-peeled oranges in plastic packaging.  A person's tweet went viral stating “If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn’t need to waste so much plastic on them.”  Whole Foods quickly discontinued sale.

Not only does it create waste, but removing one of the best food safety packages around, the orange peel, the product becomes more susceptible to contamination.

Moldy Sippy Cup Lids..What About Drinking Bottles?



News reports of moldy sippy cup lids have parents concerned.  And rightly so.  High levels of mold can lead to allergic responses in children.   The issue is that liquid seeps into the areas that are hard or impossible to clean.  This can be a big issue with juices or milk that have the nutrients to be able to support mold or bacterial growth.  Additionally, juices can be sticky, making cleaning more difficult.

Sippy cups are not the only types of cups that have multi-component lids.  Many of the fancy water bottles used by adults and children have these multicomponent lids.  It would be interesting to see if anyone has torn apart these lids.
 

Maytag Cheese Recall Expanded to 35 Production Lots

 Maytag Dairy is expanding their cheese recall to a new total of 35 lots. 
Their first recall on February 14th was for 1 lot after testing found a Listeria was found during routine testing.  Then a recall announcement on February 19th, expanded the recall to 5 lots.  Then on the February 26nd, the recall was expanded to 35 lots.

 
FDA Recall Notice
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm488124.htm
Maytag Dairy Farms Expands Voluntary Recall Of Blue Cheese Products Due To Possible Health Risk
For Immediate Release
February 26, 2016

Update - Listeria Outbreak in Packaged Salads

In January,  CDC provided an update on a Listeria outbreak associated with Dole Packaged Salad made in their Ohio facility.  A update of that case was published where there are now a total of 18 people who have been infected with one death covering 9 states.  There are also a reported 11 cases in Canada with 3 deaths.

Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Linked to Packaged Salads Produced at Springfield, Ohio Dole Processing Facility

Posted February 25, 2016 2:00 PM ET

What's New?

Three more ill people have been reported from Missouri (1) and Ohio (2), bringing the total to 18.
The most recent illness was diagnosed on January 31, 2016.