FDA Dashboard Provides Easy Way to Check Supplier Status

FDA has provided a Data Dashboard webpage that allows one to search multiple databases.

• There is the Compliance Dashboard with lists recalls, inspections, compliance actions by date.
• The FSMA Data Search & Information - one can search for a specific firm / supplier in this database, which includes applicable recalls, import alerts and refusals associated with a food company.      Link to Supplier Search 

This should make searching a specific FDA regulated facility much easier.  A good site to bookmark.

https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/InspectionComplianceDataDashboard/default.htm
FDA Data Dashboard

This Week in Mislabeled Product - Week Ending May 19, 2018

Wrong Product In Package - A CA based snack company is recalling certain 16 OZ. bags of Tropical Trail Mix because they may contain milk, soy, wheat and cashew allergens and this is not declared on the package.  Century Snacks believes this is an isolated incident, due to an error by our packaging supplier, involving a very small quantity of incorrectly filled Tropical Trail Mix bags. [Operational error]

Mislabeled Meat Stick - A Wash. establishment, is recalling approximately 8,535 pounds of ready-to-eat pepperoni sticks due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen - the products contain milk, a known allergen, which is not declared on the product label. "The problem was discovered on May 17, 2018, when the firm received a customer complaint that a package of “Hempler’s Family Classic Pepperoni, Natural Smoke Flavor Added,” contained a different product identified as “Hempler’s Pepperoni with Jalapeno and Cheese, Natural Smoke Flavoring Added.” The retail establishment notified the firm, who informed FSIS of the problem." [Operational error]

Improperly Designed Label - A company packing product for Aldi, (BLM Prod.-u. Vertriebsges. mbH & Co. KG), is voluntarily recalling Priano Rosso Pesto Sauce as it may contain undeclared milk and egg. The product recall was initiated after it was discovered in a label review that the product containing egg and milk was delivered with a label not explicitly indicating the presence of those ingredients. [Label Design and Review Errors]

Undeclared Sulfites Discovered by State Laboratory - An Oakland Park FL foodservice company is recalling its 15 ounce packages of The Peruchef brand dry potato because it may contain undeclared sulfites. The voluntary recall was initiated after routine sampling by the Florida State Department of Agriculture and analysis by food laboratory personnel revealed the presence of sulfites in the product. 

Soy in Ingredient Missed on Finished Product Label - A Grand Rapids, Mich. establishment, is recalling approximately 308,430 pounds of various beef, pork, and turkey ready-to-eat hot dog and sausage products due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen, the products contain soy, a known allergen, which is not declared on the product label. The problem was discovered on May 12, 2018 by the establishment during product inventory activities. The establishment noticed that the label for the spice mixture used in the production of one of their Beef Polish sausage contained hydrolyzed soy protein as an ingredient. However, the Beef Polish Sausage does not list the soy ingredient on the finish product label. Although the Beef Polish sausage product is the only product that is formulated with the spice mix containing the soy ingredient, there are several other ready-to-eat sausage and hot dog products made with beef, pork, and turkey that are implicated in this recall action due to potential cross contamination via shared equipment during the raw and ready-to-eat processing steps.

Wrong Label Applied to Product - A Fall River, Mass., establishment, is recalling approximately 720 pounds of Chicken Tortilla Soup products due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen - the products contain wheat, which is not declared on the product label. Some of the product labeled as Chicken Tortilla Soup may actually contain Southwest Style Corn Chowder which contains wheat. The problem was discovered on May 14, 2018, when the firm received a customer complaint that the master container was labeled as “Chicken Tortilla Soup,” and contained a different product, “Southwest Style Corn Chowder.”

https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm608251.htm
Century Snacks LLC Issues Allergy Alert On Undeclared Milk, Soy, Wheat and Cashews in Snak Club Family Size Tropical Trail Mix
For Immediate Release
May 18, 2018

CDC Update - Romaine Lettuce From Yuma Has Passed

CDC stated that romaine lettuce from Yuma likely out of food supply system, so customers no longer need to be concerned.  The total count of infected is at 172 with 75 hospitalizations and 1 death.

The Packer reported that the current price of romaine has fallen by more than 50% as the crop now turns to the California harvest.

CDC Outbreak Update
https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/index.html
Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 Infections Linked to Romaine Lettuce
Posted May 16, 2018 4:00 PM ES

Update on Salmonella Outbreak Associated with Eggs

CDC has just updated the case count of Salmonella infections due to eggs from Rose Acre farms,  There are now 35 reported cases in 9 states.  Since CDC issued the last update on April 16th, there are 12 more cases.

https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/braenderup-04-18/index.html
Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Braenderup Infections Linked to Rose Acre Farms Shell Eggs

At A Glance

• Case Count: 35 (https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/braenderup-04-18/epi.html)
• States: 9 (https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/braenderup-04-18/map.html)
• Deaths: 0
• Hospitalizations: 11
• Recall: Yes https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/braenderup-04-18/advice.html)

Research - Scheduling Impacting Outcomes of Inspections

In a research article published by Harvard Business School (09 May 2018), investigators evaluated the impact of food inspector scheduling on the outcome of food safety audits.
The primary findings:

• "On average, inspectors cited fewer violations at each successive establishment inspected throughout the day, the researchers found. In other words, inspectors tended to find and report the most violations at the first place they inspected and the fewest violations at the last place."
• "They also found that when conducting an inspection risked making the inspector work later than usual, the inspection was conducted more quickly and fewer violations were cited."
• "The level of inspector scrutiny also depended on whatever had been found at the prior inspection that day. In short, finding more violations than usual at one place seemed to induce the inspectors to exhibit more scrutiny at the subsequent place.On the other hand, finding fewer violations than usual at one site had no apparent effect on what the inspector uncovered at the subsequent establishment." 

They concluded: "The researchers estimate that tens of thousands of Americans could avoid food poisoning each year simply by reducing the number of establishments an inspector visits on a single day. Often, inspectors will cluster their schedule to conduct inspections on two or three days each week, saving the other days for administrative duties in the office. While this may save travel time and costs, it might be preventing inspectors from doing their jobs more effectively."

Nothing we probably wouldn't have guessed ourselves.  I bet the inspectors would love to do less audits then they currently have to do.  And while this applies to food service inspection, there are things food processing facilities have used to their advantage over the years in dealing with inspectors or auditors - pushing the plant walk-through until later in the day....taking the auditor into the best parts of the facility first.

Harvard Business School
Working Knowledge - Business Research for Business Leaders
 Research & Ideas
 https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/a-simple-way-for-restaurant-inspectors-to-improve-food-safety
A Simple Way for Restaurant Inspectors to Improve Food Safety
09 May 2018
by Carmen Nobel
Basic tweaks to the schedules of food safety inspectors could prevent millions of foodborne illnesses, according to new behavioral science research by Maria Ibáñez and Michael Toffel. 

Case Count of E. coli Infection Continues to Increase in Outbreak Associated with Romaine Lettuce

There are now 149 reported cases of E. coili infection associated with romaine.  Cases were reported from 29 different states.  There have been 64 hospitalizations and one death.

The romaine lettuce is no longer being harvested from the suspected areas of Yuma AZ.  While one farm has been linked to a set of illnesses in Alaska and this through consumption of whole heads, product from this farm does not seem to be linked to the vast majority of cases which were linked to chopped romaine.

https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/index.html
Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 Infections Linked to Romaine Lettuce
Posted May 9, 2018 1:45 PM EST

This Week in Mislabeled Product - Week Ending 5/4/18

Undeclared Milk in Tortilla Chips - Utz® Quality Foods, LLC, is voluntarily recalling select expiration dates of some Golden Flake, Good Health, Utz and Weis Brand Tortilla Chip items due to potential contamination of undeclared milk allergen.

Wrong Label on Pesto - Stonewall Kitchen is voluntarily recalling a limited amount of 10.25oz Basil Pesto Aioli with an Enjoy By date of 28 Sep 2019 which may contain the undeclared allergen egg.  They state that they inadvertently placed the label for Basil Pesto on a small portion (no more than 732 units) of our most recent production run. Basil Pesto Aioli contains the dairy allergen egg, whereas Basil Pesto does not. [So actually, they are recalling the Basil Pesto, because that is label people will see.  Operations error - labeling]

Product with Gluten Labeled as Gluten Free - Van's Foods is voluntarily recalling approximately 1,584 cases of Van's Gluten Free Waffles  because they were packaged in the Van's Gluten Free Waffle box contains gluten and undeclared milk.  [Operations error - packaging/labeling]

NY State Ag Finds Peanut in Snack Mix - Ethnic Foods Inc. of 76 South Bayles Avenue, Port Washington, NY 11050, is recalling its 19 ounce package of Bhavnagri Mix snack mix because they may contain undeclared peanuts. The recall was initiated after routine sampling by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Food Inspectors and subsequent analysis by Food laboratory personnel revealed that the peanut-containing product was distributed in packages that did not reveal the presence of peanuts. [Operations - Cross contact during processing]

https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm606576.htm
Voluntary Recall of Certain Golden Flake, Good Health, UTZ and Weis Brand Tortilla Chips Because of Possible Milk Allergen
For Immediate Release
May 2, 2018

Complying With Licensing Requirement and SFCR for Shipping Food To Canada

Food companies shipping food products into Canada are going to be required to obtain a license from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CFIA.  It can be obtained by using the online portal.   Who needs a license:

"Generally speaking if you are doing any of these activities, you would need a licence: importing, manufacturing, processing, treating, preserving, grading, packaging, or labelling a food that will be exported or moved between provinces and slaughtering a food animal."

There are some exemptions - alcoholic beverages, food additives, among others (see 48)

Like the recently enacted FSMA regulations in the US, Canada has updated their food regulations - Safe Food for Canadians Regulations or SFCR.  CFIA has a webpage, Understanding the Proposed Safe Food for Canadians Regulations: A Handbook for Food Businesses, that provides more information on the regulation.

There are many similarities between FSMA and SFCR including the use of Preventive Controls in food manufacturing operations. This document states (19c):

Preventive control Measures: This Part would set key food safety controls that must be met by all food businesses. It would also outline the requirements for developing, implementing, and maintaining a written preventive control plan that documents how you meet food safety and marketplace fairness requirements (e.g. for labelling, packaging, standards of identity, grades, humane treatment and net quantity).

 While there are some differences the SFCR preventive controls from FSMA , especially in terms of market fairness requirements such as humane treatment, standards of identity, and net quantity (In the US, these are handled by regulations outside of FSMA), the two systems will be viewed as compatible.

Ground Meat Recalled After a Complaint of Foreign Material in the Form of Hard Plastic

A N.C. establishment, is recalling approximately 35,464 pounds of raw ground beef products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically hard plastic.  The problem was discovered after the firm received a complaint from a consumer [one complaint?] who found blue, hard plastic pieces in one of the products. 

USDA Recall Notice
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2018/recall-035-2018-release
JBS USA, Inc. Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination
Class II Recall 

035-2018
Health Risk: Low 

May 2, 2018