Recall of Chocolate Covered Blueberries After Customer Finds Chocolate Covered Almonds in Package

Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections of Freeport, Maine is recalling its 8 oz resealable package of milk chocolate covered blueberries because they may contain undeclared chocolate covered almonds. The recall was initiated after a customer discovered chocolate covered almonds in a package (of milk chocolate covered blueberries). The blueberry packaging does not reveal the presence of almonds. Subsequent investigation indicates that the problem was caused by a temporary breakdown in the company’s packaging process. The process has been corrected and the company has instituted additional safety checks and corrective actions. 

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/wilburs-maine-chocolate-confections-issues-allergy-alert-undeclared-almonds-chocolate-covered
Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Almonds in Chocolate Covered Blueberries
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  July 28, 2022
FDA Publish Date:  July 28, 2022
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Snack Food Item
Reason for Announcement:  Undeclared almonds
Company Name:  Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections
Brand Name:  Milk chocolate covered blueberries
Product Description: Milk chocolate covered blueberries

Soup Base Recalled After Label Design Issue Results in Undeclared Allergens

Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc., Santa Fe Springs, CA is recalling 17.6 oz packages of Marutomo Dashi Soup Base because they may contain undeclared wheat and soy.  The recall was initiated after it was discovered that the product containing wheat and soybean was distributed in packaging that did not reveal the presence of wheat and soybean. Subsequent investigation indicates the problem was caused by a human error during product label checking process.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/wismettac-asian-foods-issues-allergy-alert-undeclared-wheat-and-soy-dashi-soup-base
Wismettac Asian Foods Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Wheat and Soy in Dashi Soup Base
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  July 26, 2022
FDA Publish Date:  July 26, 2022
Product Type:  Food & Beverages
Reason for Announcement:  Undeclared Wheat and Soy
Company Name:  Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc.
Brand Name:  Marutomo
Product Description:  Dashi Soup Base

Whey Protein Drink Powder Recalled for Not Declaring Milk Allergen on Label

Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc. of Spanish Fork, UT is announcing that it initiated a voluntarily recall of two AIVIA Whey Protein & Power Herbs meal replacement products because labels do not declare milk.  Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc. of Spanish Fork, UT is announcing that it initiated a voluntarily recall of two AIVIA Whey Protein & Power Herbs meal replacement products because labels do not declare milk.  

While whey is listed on the label, this does not comply with allergen labeling regulations that require the word milk be listed.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/natures-sunshine-products-inc-issues-allergy-alert-undeclared-milk-aivia-whey-protein-power-herbs
Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc. Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Milk in AIVIA Whey Protein + Power Herbs Meal Replacement Shakes
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  July 22, 2022
FDA Publish Date:  July 23, 2022
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Meal Replacements  
Reason for Announcement:  Undeclared milk
Company Name:  Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc.
Brand Name:  Aivia
Product Description:  Whey Protein & Power Herbs

Amaranth Grain Recalled Due to Potential Salmonella Contamination

Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc., a Lakewood, Colorado-based natural grocery retailer, is voluntarily recalling Natural Grocers® Brand 1-pound Organic Amaranth Grain due to potential Salmonella contamination.   This recall was initiated when the company received a notification by its supplier of the potential presence of Salmonella in specific lots of Organic Amaranth. The company has received no reports of illness or injury to date.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/natural-grocersr-issues-voluntary-recall-organic-amaranth-grain-due-potential-presence-salmonella
Natural Grocers® Issues Voluntary Recall on Organic Amaranth Grain Due to Potential Presence of Salmonella
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  July 22, 2022
FDA Publish Date:  July 22, 2022
Product Type:  Food & Beverages
Reason for Announcement:  Potential Salmonella contamination
Company Name:  Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc.
Brand Name:  Natural Grocers
Product Description:  Organic Amaranth Grain

Recall Expanded for Cookies with Potential Presence of Plastic Pieces

Enjoy Life Natural Brands LLC expanded its June 30th voluntary recall, to add one product and add additional Best By dates for four products to the list of recalled products. This recall is due to the potential presence of hard plastic pieces in the products.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/enjoy-life-natural-brands-llc-expands-voluntary-recall-select-bakery-products-due-potential-presence
Enjoy Life Natural Brands, LLC Expands Voluntary Recall of Select Bakery Products Due to Potential Presence of Foreign Material
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  July 20, 2022
FDA Publish Date:  July 22, 2022
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Snack Food Item  
Reason for Announcement:  Potential presence of plastic pieces
Company Name:  Enjoy Life Natural Brands, LLC
Brand Name:  Enjoy Life & Trader Joe’s
Product Description:  Soft Baked Cookies

CA Company Recalls Salad with Egg-like Product After An Inhouse Product Tests Positive for Listeria

Eat Just, Inc. (“Eat Just”), located in Alameda, CA, is voluntarily recalling select lots of JUST Egg Chopped Spring Greens products from a limited number of retail stores located in five states, due to a possible health risk from Listeria monocytogenes.  The recalled lots tested negative for Listeria monocytogenes before leaving the manufacturing facility. However, another lot that shares ingredients with the recalled lots has tested positive. The lot that tested positive has not been released to the public. Out of an abundance of caution, Eat Just is voluntarily recalling the three lots identified below.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/eat-just-inc-recalls-just-egg-chopped-spring-greens-because-possible-health-risk
Eat Just, Inc. Recalls Just Egg Chopped Spring Greens Because of Possible Health Risk
Summary
Company Announcement Date: July 20, 2022
FDA Publish Date:  July 21, 2022
Product Type:  Food & Beverages
Reason for Announcement:  Potential Listeria monocytogenes
Company Name:  Eat Just, Inc.
Brand Name:  Spring Green Flavor
Product Description:  Chopped Egg and Vegetables

Toxic Metals in Baby Food - What is Achievable?

FDA rolled out its Total Diet Study Report and the news stories are full of fear-generating titles, such as this one, FDA finds toxic arsenic, cadmium, lead in many baby foods. They quote a clinical nurse ""There's not supposed to be lead or arsenic or cadmium in any foods. So the fact they make it seem like a victory is very troubling,"

FDA is working to determine what levels are achievable. But is zero achievable?  Can an action level be set that provides a sufficient level of safety?

The action level for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereals that FDA considers achievable with the use of such practices is 100 microgram per kilogram (µg/kg), or 100 parts per billion (ppb)

The action level for lead in apple juice for infants is 10ppb, other juices 20ppb.

These passages from the report:

"The TDS has collected and analyzed baby foods since 1975. In the modernized TDS, baby foods are considered national foods (i.e., not expected to vary by region) and therefore are collected once per year as part of the national collection. In FY2019 FDA collected additional samples of baby foods to obtain information about baby foods with unique ingredients and baby foods with higher consumption (per NHANES/WWEIA). The FY2019 additional baby food sampling was conducted in tandem with select regional collections, and therefore also provided an opportunity to compare certain baby foods collected regionally and nationally. In general, the region and season did not have an impact on the analytical results for elements in baby foods. For a summary of analytical results for elements for each food, see the TDS website (FDA, 2022c), where the summary is available to download. The additional baby food sampling contributed to a total of 384 baby food samples in the FY2018-FY2020 reporting cycle. Of the 1536 analytical results for toxic elements, 995 (65%) were non-detects and 541 (35%) had detectable levels."

"Approximately 51% of the baby food samples analyzed had detectable levels of total arsenic. The highest levels of total arsenic were found in infant cereals and snacks like teething biscuits and puffed snacks. These results agree with historical TDS data as well as sampling performed to support the Arsenic in Rice and Rice Products Risk Assessment (FDA, 2016). Six baby foods containing rice and/or juice exceeded a specified level of total arsenic and were therefore further analyzed to determine the levels of inorganic arsenic. These results are provided in Table 4 below (further information on the total arsenic levels that result in speciation can be found in Appendix B, Table 10 and additional details on arsenic speciation results can be found on the TDS website [FDA, 2022c], where the summary of analytical findings for each food is available to download)."

"Cadmium was not detected in 35% of the 384 baby food samples. The highest level (49 ppb) of cadmium was in a sample of baby food containing spinach as an ingredient. The baby food products containing spinach had levels of cadmium which align with the TDS results for cadmium in raw spinach. The second highest result for cadmium was 41 ppb in baby food carrots. However, the mean concentration of cadmium was 20 ppb across the 14 baby food carrot samples." 

"Lead and mercury were not detected in 79% and 97%, respectively of the 384 baby food samples. The highest baby food lead result (38 ppb) was found in a sample of baby food sweet potatoes. There were only 13 samples with detectable results for mercury and all 13 were less than 3 ppb."

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2022/07/18/Food-and-Drug-Administration-FDA-foods-nutrients-toxins-total-dietary-study-report/2291658150535/
HEALTH NEWS
JULY 18, 2022 / 3:23 PM / UPDATED JULY 18, 2022 AT 5:18 PM
FDA finds toxic arsenic, cadmium, lead in many baby foods
By Judy Packer-Tursman

Supermarket Chain Recalls Seafood Meals After Discovering Print-and-Apply Labels Forgot to List the Seafood Ingredient

Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI) has voluntarily recalled three ReadyMeals seafood items prepared in store due to allergens not listed on the ingredient labels. The recall was initiated after an internal technical review identified missing ingredients containing allergens.  The missing items in all cases was the fish, as well as sauce in one of them.

Albertsons Companies Voluntarily Recalls Select ReadyMeals Seafood Products Due to Undeclared Allergens | FDA

Albertsons Companies Voluntarily Recalls Select ReadyMeals Seafood Products Due to Undeclared Allergens
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  July 19, 2022
FDA Publish Date:  July 19, 2022
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Seafood/Seafood Product
Reason for Announcement:  Undeclared allergens (fish, crustacean, egg, wheat, soy)
Company Name:  Albertsons Companies
Brand Name:  Ready Meals
Product Description:  Seafood Items

NY Company Recalls Gluten Free Cookies for Containing Gluten Due to Ingredient

Sweet Loren’s of New York, NY is voluntarily recalling a single lot code of Sweet Loren’s Sugar Cookie Dough 12oz, because it may contain traces of gluten in product labeled as gluten free.   This issue was identified through testing of the product in-house. The oat flour used was determined to have traces of gluten despite having documentation (COA) declaring it to be gluten free.

Can you rely just on a COA (certificate of analysis)?  Too often, receiving an acceptable COA is the extent of a company's supplier control program.  Clearly, this ingredient needs to be addressed with a Supplier Preventive Control.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/sweet-lorens-inc-issues-voluntary-allergy-alert-undeclared-gluten-product
Sweet Loren’s, Inc Issues Voluntary Allergy Alert On Undeclared Gluten in Product
Summary
Company Announcement Date:  July 16, 2022
FDA Publish Date:  July 18, 2022
Product Type:  Food & Beverages  Bakery Product/Mix  
Reason for Announcement:  Undeclared gluten
Company Name:  Sweet Loren’s
Brand Name:  Sweet Loren’s
Product Description:  Sugar cookie dough