Trader Joe's Recalls Frozen Chicken Dinner Due to Listeria

Trader Joe’s is recalling a frozen chicken product, Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice after routine testing found the product was contaminated with Listeria. 240 cases were shipped to 14 eastern US states and DC. The product was made in Canada.

 The product is a frozen product and would be considered heat and serve (although a final temperature of 165ºF is listed as a temperature that should be reached before serving. http://onefoodguy.blogspot.com/2009/08/triumphant-return-of-tuesdays-tastings.html). Freezing will prevent the organism from growing, so the risk then comes down to the level of contamination to start and to what degree can we expect the heating to reduce that initial contamination. Of course, if a consumer puts the frozen product in the refrigerator for a few days before cooking, those Listeria levels could rise once the product thaws. Overall, it may not be a high risk, but a risk that the consumer probably does not want, and should not have to expect. Since this product was pre-cooked, the facility should be controlling Listeria in the post-process environment (after cooking through packaging).

 This is the second recall to hit the media in the last few months. The last was the Sunland peanut butter that was contaminated with Salmonella and resulted in 41 becoming infected. Trader Joe’s is a company that sources its products from food manufacturers and therefore must ensure that those suppliers have good food safety programs. Having two recalls does raise concern about the company’s sourcing program.

 

Nearly 5,000 pounds of Trader Joe's chicken and rice recalled

 http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-trader-joes-chicken-rice-recall-20121203,0,5193331.story

 By Tiffany Hsu
December 3, 2012, 8:19 a.m.

Trader Joe’s is facing yet another recall, this time affecting nearly 5,000 pounds of its store brand Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice, which may be contaminated with listeria bacteria.

The producer of the product, Canadian company Aliya’s Foods Limited, issued a voluntary recall of 4,865 pounds of the frozen food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Martha Stewart, celebrity chef and author, contracts Salmonella

Martha Stewart contracted Salmonella over Thanksgiving from mishandling food in the form of raw turkey.  While we hate to see anyone become ill, having a celebrity chef come down with Salmonella can have a positive outcome.  Too often we see these celebrity chefs demonstrating poor practices, whether it is inadequate hand washing, cooking to the incorrect temperatures, or canning foods using the oven technique.  But my hope is that Martha will use this experience as motivator to endorse good safety practices.

Of course, in one of the news stories she has an idiot quote about a silver lining… “I lost some weight,”.  I can see it now, a bunch of kitchen debutantes licking raw chicken as a way to lose weight.  So much for my wishful thinking.

Salmonella: Martha Stewart Sickened Last Month After 'Handling So Many Turkeys'

Posted: 12/06/2012 11:06 am EST

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/salmonella-martha-stewart-infection-salmonellosis-_n_2250353.html

Martha Stewart was confined to her bed for several days last month because of salmonella infection, the New York Post's Page Six reported.

“I never get sick, but I came down with salmonella. I think I caught it because I was handling so many turkeys around Thanksgiving," Stewart told Page Six. "I was on the 'Today' show, I did a number of other [Thanksgiving] appearances. It really hit me hard and I was in bed for days. It was terrible."

Veggie Burger Product Recalled Due to Potential for Listeria monocytogenes

Veggie Patch, a manufacturer of vegetable based food items, is recalling meatless burgers and falafel because their own internal testing program detected Listeria monocytogenes. What is the risk:

• The meatless burgers are soy-based products (Ingredient statement below), which are considered a TCS food in the FDA Food Code. That is, the product will support the growth of organisms such as Listeria.
• The product is considered fully cooked, so the instructions (attached below) are what would be considered heat-and-serve. These instructions would not be considered validated cooking instructions needed to destroy pathogens if present. (http://www.gmaonline.org/downloads/wygwam/121894_1.pdf is a guidance document for validating cooking instructions.)
• This is a frozen product, so while frozen, that will prevent the growth of Listeria. Of course, if the consumer thaws the product and then holds it for days before consuming, this will allow for growth.

Question is, to what degree does the company’s food safety program, including sanitation, limit this recall to the day in question.

 

FDA News Release

VEGGIE PATCH® Voluntarily Recalls Two Items- The Ultimate Meatless Burger and Falafel

- Due To Possible Risk Of Contamination By Listeria monocytogenes

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm330342.htm

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 30, 2012 – VEGGIE PATCH® is voluntarily recalling two products --The Ultimate Meatless Burger and Falafel-- due to a risk of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy persons may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women.

 

The Ultimate Meatless Burger and Falafel, from VEGGIE PATCH, with the specific use-by dates and UPC codes listed below were distributed to a select number of retailers and distributors.

 9-ounce trays of refrigerated, fully cooked, VEGGIE PATCH, The Ultimate Meatless Burger with a Use-By date, Jan/12/2013; UPC code 6-10129-00211-5 (which can be found on back of package)

9-ounce trays of refrigerated, fully cooked, VEGGIE PATCH, Falafel with a Use-By date, Jan/15/2013; UPC code 6-10129-06619-3 (which can be found on back of package)

Fear the Grocery Carts?

Here is a study just released in Food Protection Trends. The study shows that grocery carts are a bit unsanitary as indicated by the presence of bacterial indicators (APC, coliforms, generic E. coli). While the study is a bit soft in the methodology (should have actually checked for pathogens, should have used better methods for testing), it does show that shopping carts are not the cleanest things in the world, and there is the possibility that carts can be a source of contamination, primarily children riding in those carts (putting their fingers on the cart seat and then sticking those same fingers in their mouth).  

But before we all go crazy worrying about grocery carts, it is important to point out this is just one of many risks that we all face each day. How about that grass where the kid is crawling….might that be a place where birds, dogs, or cats may have pooped? The refrigerator where juices from raw meats may have dripped…did it get on the apples?. That grocery store conveyor, where the packs of raw meat may have dripped…could those drops contaminated your other food packages?. How about those reusable grocery bags that never get washed after being used to carry raw meat? Where did you put your hands while eating lunch on a park bench where earlier, a group of the pigeons deposited their load as they flew by? Certainly it is important that we take precautionary measures such as washing our hands, cooking our food, and washing our grocery bags, but for each study that comes out that demonstrating the somewhat obvious, we cannot let the potential of contacting a contaminated surface become the bane of our lives. As they say, the key to a healthy immune system is a constant challenge.


Bacterial Contamination of Shopping Carts and Approaches to Control

Charles P. Gerba* and Sheri Maxwell
Dept. of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Food Protection Trends, Vol. 32, No. 12, Pages 747–749

Summary

Placing children in grocery shopping carts has been implicated recently as a source of infection with Salmonella and Campylobacter in young children. This study was conducted to assess the occurrence total bacteria, coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli on grocery shopping cart handles and seats. A total of 85 shopping carts in parking lots of grocery stores were tested in five major metropolitan areas across the United States. The total numbers of heterotrophic bacteria were as great as 1.1 × 107 on the handle and seat. Coliforms were detected on 72% (62) of the carts. E. coli was identified on 18 of 35 carts (51%) on which coliform identifi­cation was conducted. The results of this study suggest the need for improved sanitation of shopping cards/baskets to reduce exposure to pathogens and potential transmission of microbial infections among shoppers.

Antibiotic-resistant pathogens in pork - reviewing the CR news release

Perhaps you have seen the latest food safety news to hit the mass media - antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens in pork.

Is there need to worry - No.

1) Is pork that bad? No, all raw meat products - whether pork, beef, poultry, or fish - have the potential to carry bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella, or E. coli. Therefore, one just needs to properly cook (to eliminate those organisms) and properly hande (to prevent cross contamanation) raw meat products to prevent any potential for illness. Remember, use a thermometer.

2) What about the antibiotic resistance? Antibiotic resistenace adds no special ability for these organisms to resist heating and sanitizers, so these bacteria will be controlled the same as any other bacteria though proper cooking and cleaning. The biggest concern with these types of organsims are with high risk groups, so it is especially important to ensure the use of good practice when preparing food for these groups (including the elderly and young children).

 It is true that there is a link between the use of antibiotics in livestock and a higher level of antibiotic resistant organisms that can be found in that meat. And it is true that anitibiotics have been overused in livestock as well as for humans (have you been given antibiotics for a viral infection?). However, the epidemiolgical evidence is lacking in showing a tie between those organisms and increased human illness. To combat the concern, FDA recently released a guidance to promote the judicious use of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals (http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm299802.htm).

It is also important to note that one can find antibiotic resistant organsims in organically grown meat. So I do not agree with the assertion that is made that one should buy organically certified meat. If you feel that there are quality aspects related to organic meat, than that is one thing. But the fact that the meat is organic does not provide any real benefit regarding safety.

What’s in that pork?
 We found antibiotic-resistant bacteria and traces of a veterinary drug

Consumer Reports magazine: January 2013 http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/pork0113.htm

 Our analysis of pork-chop and ground-pork samples from around the U.S. found that yersinia enterocolitica, a bacterium that can cause fever, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, was widespread. Some samples harbored other potentially harmful bacteria, including salmonella. And there are more reasons to be concerned about “the other white meat.”
Some of the bacteria we found in 198 samples proved to be resistant to antibiotics commonly used to treat people. The frequent use of low-dose antibiotics in pork farming may be accelerating the growth of drug-resistant “superbugs” that threaten human health.

FDA Prevents Sunland Foods from Reopening

FDA flexed its new regulatory muscle as granted through FSMA and shut down Sunland Foods, the maker of contaminated Trader Joe's Peanut Butter.  Sunland was planning to reopen the processing facility this week, but FDA suspended the facility's registration due to a 'reasonable probability' that their product could cause serious health problems.  Numerous issues in the facility had been cited (http://pennstatefoodsafety.blogspot.com/2012/11/fda-investigation-report-on-sunland.html) including FDA's assertion that Sunland knowingly shipped contaminated product.  Sunland denies this claim.  

Now it is up to the company to prove its case in court in order to resume operations.

FDA's decision to shut a facility down begins a new chapter for food processors and their interaction with FDA under FSMA.  Most consumers would probably agree that this facility deserved to be closed.  But we don't know to what degree the facility had made steps to improve since the initial recall back in late September.  (http://pennstatefoodsafety.blogspot.com/2012/09/supplier-of-trader-joes-peanut-butter.html)  Was Sunland Foods unable to get up to standard in the last 2 months, or were there issues so numerous and/or bad that FDA still deemed the facility a risk to consumers?   What will be interesting moving forward is how FDA will use this new power.  Will it be used as a preventive tool, shutting plants down before the products they produce causes illness?  And if so, to what degree of risk will federal inspectors be willing to accept?  Listeria in a drain?  Salmonella in a product that is not fully cooked?  Or will it be used as a punitive action - a way to make a facility involved in an outbreak prove that it has made the necessary changes?

 

FDA halts company's peanut butter operations

The FDA suspended Sunland's registration over salmonella concerns.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/26/fda-peanut-butter-salmonella/1728017/?sf7473491=1

USAToday Health and Wellness  6:17PM EST November 26. 2012 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration halted operations of the country's largest organic peanut butter processor Monday, cracking down on salmonella poisoning for the first time with the new enforcement authority the agency gained in a 2011 food safety law.
FDA officials found salmonella all over Sunland Inc.'s New Mexico processing plant after 41 people in 20 states, most of them children, were sickened by peanut butter manufactured at the Sunland plant and sold at Trader Joe's grocery chain. The FDA suspended Sunland's registration Monday, preventing the company from producing or distributing any food.
The food safety law gave the FDA authority to suspend a company's registration when food manufactured or held there has a "reasonable probability" of causing serious health problems or death. Before the food safety law was enacted early last year, the FDA would have had to go to court to suspend a company's registration.
Sunland had planned to reopen its peanut processing facility on Tuesday and a spokeswoman said before the

Dumb Ways to Die - Eating Poisonous Mushrooms

3 people died from eating wild mushrooms.  As you read the story below, please click on youtube link below for a little ditty that provides a nice accompaniment to the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw&sns=em

Nov 21, 7:30 PM EST

3rd person dies in Calif. from mushroom poisoning

By TRACIE CONE
Associated Press

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MUSHROOM_DEATHS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-21-19-21-28

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A third person has died from eating poisonous mushrooms at a California senior care facility where a caretaker found the fungus in the backyard and used it to make soup, authorities said Wednesday.

The 90-year-old man died on Saturday, state Department of Social Services spokesman Oscar Ramirez told The Associated Press. The Placer County Sheriff's Office identified him as Frank Warren Blodgett.

Ramirez said an official with Gold Age Villa in Loomis called Monday to report the third death. State officials are continuing to investigate the incident that sheriff's investigators have described as a terrible accident.

Three other people were sickened when they ate the soup made from the poisonous mushrooms on Nov. 8, including the caretaker who made it. Their conditions have not been made public.

FDA Investigation Report on Sunland Foods - Findings Very Troubling

FDA released the findings from the Sunland Food investigation.  This investigation was conducted after Trader Joe's peanut butter, which was made by Sunland, was linked to 41 cases of Salmonella in 20 states.
The findings are very troubling. (Each numbered bullet point references a spot in the report).

1. Company shipped product after their own testing found it to contain Salmonella.  Occurance in 11 lots.
2. Five lots tested and found to be negative by company were actually positive when tested by FDA.
3. 28 environmental samples were found to be positive for Salmonella.
4. The FDA tested and found shelled peanuts contaminated which resulted in Sunland expanding the recall to that product line.
5. Poor employee practice including the lack of hand washing.
6. No records for the documentation of cleaning processing equipment.
7. Reuse of sacks for both raw and finished product without cleaning.
8. Poor plant drainage systems that prohibited good cleaning.
9. Storage of raw peanuts allowed for cross contamination (birds were flying into the uncovered trailers.  Storage conditions also allowed for moisture and pest entry).

FDA Investigates Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Bredeney Infections Linked to Peanut Butter made by Sunland Inc.

Posted November 21, 2012
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/corenetwork/ucm320413.htm

Updates

November 14, 2012 - FDA posts observations from recent inspection at Sunland Inc.  
The FDA has made the observations from its recent inspection of Sunland ^Inc.1 publicly available.  This inspection was conducted between September 17 and October 16, 2012, and became part of the investigation of the Salmonella Bredeney outbreak linked to peanut butter made by Sunland Inc.
During this inspection investigators found that conditions in the company’s facility, the company’s manufacturing processes, and the company’s testing program for Salmonella may have allowed peanut butter that contained Salmonella to be distributed by the company.

[1] The FDA found that between June of 2009 and August of 2012, Sunland Inc. had distributed, or cleared for distribution, portions of 11 lots, or daily production runs,  of peanut or almond butter after its own testing program identified the presence of at least one of nine different Salmonella types (Arapahoe, Bredeney, Cerro, Dallgow, Kubacha, Mbandaka, Meleagridis, Newport, and Teddington) in those lots.  Two of these lots showed the presence of the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bredeney.

[2] Equally important, five product samples collected and analyzed by FDA from Sunland Inc. showed the presence of Salmonella, but had not been identified as containing Salmonella by Sunland Inc.’s internal testing.  Among those products were peanut butter and shelled raw peanuts.  Two of these samples showed the presence of the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bredeney.

Fresh Express Recalls Bagged Greens..Again

Fresh Express is recalling bagged spinach for Salmonella after a sample, as part of USDA sampling program, came up positive.  There were no illnesses reported.

This is a reported fifth time a Fresh Express product has been recalled due to a pathogen positive test.  Why so many, the Oregonian Newspaper asks.  To be fair, there seems to be an increase in these type of recalls in produce overall.  Has the amount of testing increased?  Perhaps a government agency that was just a moment from being eliminated has picked up their game.  Or is it that bagged produce more likely to contain pathogens when compared to unprocessed greens?  But are unprocessed greens tested at the same level as bagged greens?  We do know that bagged chopped greens are considered a TCS food (temperature control for safety, or what used to be known as PHF, or potentially hazardous food).  This is because pathogens, if present, have better growth potential in the chopped greens compared to whole greens. So, there is a greater need to have no pathogens present in those products.  But to what degree is it possible to completely eliminate all pathogens while still maintaining a product that does not taste like sanitizer?  Remember, these greens are grown in fields, and birds and other critters will poop there.  So without a silver bullet to completely eliminate this bacterial risk, testing is bound to discover a positive from time to time thus resulting in a recall, and hopefully not an illness.  Processors of this type of product, therefore, need to put in controls and then manage those controls to minimize the risk. Retailers and consumers must control that product through proper refrigeration.

Salmonella in spinach: fifth Fresh Express recall in three months

Published: Friday, November 09, 2012, 9:12 AM Updated: Friday, November 09, 2012, 1:09 PM
Lynne Terry, The OregonianThe Oregonianhttp://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2012/11/salmonella_in_spinach_fifth_fr.html
Fresh Express, which sells a variety of bagged greens, is recalling packaged spinach over salmonella.

This is the company's fifth recall of bagged greens since August over bacterial contamination. This time it is pulling spinach with a use-by date of Nov. 7 sold in 9 oz. packages. The potentially tainted spinach was sold to stores in 18 states, including Oregon, Washington Idaho and California.Fresh Express, owned by Chiquita Brands International Inc. in North Carolina, said in its recall notice on the Food and Drug Administration website that the contamination was spotted in a test by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Tiffany Breaux, a Chiquita spokeswoman, said in an email that the company reviewed its records and conducted an “intensive investigation" into the contamination. Apparently, its staff was unable to trace the source of the pathogens.

It's unclear where the greens were grown and where and how they were packaged. Breaux indicated that the recalls have not prompted any change in the company's food safety system.

In the past three months, Fresh Express has pulled bagged greens after positive bacterial tests by federal authorities. In October, the company recalled hearts of romaine salad tainted with salmonella. In September, it again pulled hearts of romaine salad but over listeria contamination. Also in September, it pulled leafy green romaine salad over listeria, and in August it recalled hearts of romaine over listeria.

Both salmonella and listeria can cause serious gastro-intestinal symptoms and even death. Listeria poses a particular threat to pregnant woman, causing still births and miscarriages.

Both bacteria can end up in a variety of food but bagged greens are considered high risk because of the possibility of contamination spreading when one tainted leaf of lettuce, for example, is mixed with other greens and packaged.

But so many recalls by one company in such a short time frame is unusual. The last time before August that Fresh Express pulled contaminated greens from the market was in April 2011 when it recalled 9 oz. bags of spinach tainted with salmonella.

 

Fresh Express Recalls Limited Quantity of 9 oz. Spinach Due to Possible Health Risk

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm327401.htm

Contact
Consumer
1 - (800) 242-5472

Media
Tiffany Breaux 1 - (704) 280-5938
Barbara Hines 1 - (972) 724-3049

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 7 , 2012 - Charlotte, North Carolina - Fresh Express Incorporated is conducting a voluntary, precautionary recall of a limited quantity of Fresh Express Spinach with a Use-by Date of November 7 and Product Code of S299B25 due to a possible health risk from Salmonella.

No illnesses or consumer complaints have been reported to Fresh Express at this time in association with this recall. No other Fresh Express products are subject to this recall.

The recall notification is being issued out of an abundance of caution due to an isolated instance in which a random sample yielded a positive result for Salmonella under U.S. Department of Agriculture's random sample testing program. Fresh Express is coordinating closely with regulatory officials.

Fresh Express customer service representatives are already contacting relevant retailers to confirm the recalled product has been removed from store shelves and inventories and that none is available for consumer purchase. Customers with questions are instructed to contact their usual Fresh Express customer service representative. The recalled salads were distributed primarily in the Western region of the U.S.

Consumers who may have purchased the recalled salad are asked not to eat it, but to throw it out instead. Fresh Express is offering a full refund. Consumers with questions or who would like to secure a refund may call the Fresh Express Consumer Response Center at (800) 242-5472 during the hours of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Specific recall information follows:

• Product Being Recalled: Fresh Express Spinach in 9 oz. package
• Product Code: S299B25 (located in upper right corner on front of package)
• Use-by Date: November 7 (also located in upper right hand corner of package)
• Distribution: Primarily in the Western region of the U.S.

Salmonella is an organism that may cause fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and possibly bloody diarrhea in healthy individuals. It can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Consumers with these symptoms should consult their health care provider.

Fresh Express Precautionary Salad Recall-11/7/12
(No other Fresh Express Salads are included in this recall)

Brand	Product Name	Size	UPC	Production Code	Best If Used By Date	POSSIBLE DISTRIBUTION STATES
Fresh Express	Spinach	9 OZ.	0 71279-13204 4	S299B25	NOV7	AZ, CA, CO, HI, I D, KS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM,OK,OR,SD, TX, UT, WA,WY