Salmonella Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Salmonella Blog

A wide range of processed foods - including soups, snack foods, dips and dressings - are being recalled after salmonella was discovered in a flavor-enhancing ingredient.

Food and Drug Administration officials said Thursday that the ingredient, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, is used in thousands of food products, though it was unclear how many of them will be recalled. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said no illnesses or deaths have been reported.

The officials said the recall, which dates to products manufactured since Sept. 17, is expected to expand in the coming days and weeks. It only involves hydrolyzed vegetable protein manufactured by Las Vegas-based Basic Food Flavors Inc.

The agency said Thursday it collected and analyzed samples at the Las Vegas facility after one of the company's customers discovered the salmonella. The FDA then confirmed the presence of a strain of salmonella in the company's processing equipment.

Jeffrey Farrar, associate commissioner for food protection at the FDA, said Thursday that many of the products that contain the product are not dangerous because the risk of salmonella is eliminated after the food has been cooked. Many of the foods involved in the recall are ready-to-eat items that are not cooked by the consumer.  "At this time we believe the risk to consumers is very low," Farrar said.

A list of more than 50 recalled foods on the FDA Web site include several dips manufactured by T. Marzetti, Sweet Maui Onion potato chips manufactured by Tim's Cascade Snacks, Tortilla Soup mix made by Homemade Gourmet and several prepackaged "Follow Your Heart" tofu meals manufactured by Earth Island.  The FDA said the contamination was discovered by a new tracking system implemented to improve tracing of foodborne illnesses.

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Salinas, CA-based NewStar Fresh Foods  has recalled 772 cartons of iced jumbo green onions it distributed under the Omo and Fu Choy brand names in Georgia, Michigan, and California. The company fears the onions may be contaminated with Salmonella.No illnesses have been reported. The product is packaged in a 48-count iced carton, item numbers 02487403 and 02487452, product lot numbers 40550707 and 40510707, with production dates of July 20th and July 21st 2009. No other food service distributors or products are involved in this recall.

All affected product within the foodservice channel has already been accounted for and destroyed.

Fifty-eight cartons were shipped from two distributors to small grocery outlets in the Detroit and San Francisco areas. Consumers in California may have purchased the product from Larry’s Produce in Fairfield, La Loma Produce, Good Life Grocery and El Grande, all San Francisco, and Valley Produce & Meat Market, San Pablo. Consumers in Michigan may have purchased the product from Confers Supermarket in New Lothrop, Ryan’s Food in Detroit, Brothers Supermarket and Al Jazeera Market in Dearborn and Sahara Market in Warren.

For more,check out the official FDA post.
 

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Salmonella found in the ConAgra Plant

As a follow-up to the recent Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting an extensive inspection of ConAgra's Sylvester, Georgia processing plant. Samples collected by the FDA revealed the presence of Salmonella. The fact that FDA found Salmonella in the plant environment further suggests that the contamination likely took place prior to the product reaching consumers. Last week, tests by several states identified Salmonella in many open jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter recovered from consumers. In these instances, the Salmonella found in the plant and in the open jars matched the outbreak strain recovered from consumers who became ill.

Peanut Butter Toppings Part of Recall

FDA has learned that the ConAgra plant in Sylvester, GA, sent bulk Peter Pan peanut butter to its plant in Humboldt, TN. The three brands described below are part of the original Peter Pan recall. These brands have been recalled and are no longer being sold. However, some consumers may still have these products in their home.

Consumers who have any of the products listed below should discard them. Individuals who are not sure if the purchased product contains the recalled peanut butter topping should contact the store where the product was purchased.

Keep reading here

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The Suwannee Democrat has reported that the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, and other officials are working together to quickly solve the mysterious contamination of two brands of peanut butter, “Peter Pan” and, “Great Value,” which are produced by ConAgra based in Georgia.

According to the FDA, hundreds of people, both young and old, have already been affected since the outbreak of salmonella contaminated peanut butter began as far back as August of last year. In their report to the FDA on Feb. 13, the CDC and state and local health agencies confirmed 288 cases of salmonella illnesses in 39 states. Every case that was reported involved the “Peter Pan” brand.

Just recently, on Feb. 16, the Florida Department of Health confirmed several cases of salmonella poisoning in Alachua, Hillsborough, and Pasco counties, according to Fernando Senra, Spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health.

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