Tag: recall

Ready-to-eat chicken recalled for possible bacteria — another gift from America’s industrial food

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❝ National Steak and Poultry is recalling nearly 2 million pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products because they may have been undercooked, resulting in possible bacterial contamination, the USDA said.

The recall includes a variety of ready-to-eat chicken products that were produced on various dates from August 20, 2016 through November 30, 2016…

❝ This is an expanded recall which began on Nov. 23. The original problem was discovered by a call from a food service customer, complaining that the products appeared to be undercooked…

What? You thought the producer might actually have decent quality assurance in place?

❝ The label says fully cooked, but it’s possible the meat was undercooked, which means it could be contaminated with bacteria.

“Get it out the door, slaves. We can’t make any money with our chicken sitting here in an industrial pressure cooker!”

Blue Bell issues ice cream recall – 3 die!

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The deaths of three patients who contracted food poisoning while in the hospital for other conditions have been linked to a venerable favorite of the south – Blue Bell ice cream.

A household name in parts of America, Blue Bell issued the first product recall in its 108-year history on Friday. The company also shut down one of its production lines as the government warned consumers to clear their freezers of a number of ice cream bars and cookies made by the Texan firm.

Five adults who were patients at the same hospital in Wichita, Kansas, contracted listeriosis from the listeria bacteria sometimes found in food. Three subsequently died.

Federal and state investigators are looking into the deaths; the investigation could expand beyond the hospital and Kansas to include other deaths where listeria may have been a factor and was linked to eating tainted versions of the popular brand of ice cream…

Four of the five patients for whom dietary information was available to investigators were shown to have consumed milkshakes at the hospital, which had been made with a single serving of a Blue Bell ice cream product called Scoops.

The listeria strain obtained from those four patients was linked, after laboratory testing, to tainted Blue Bell products examined in South Carolina and Texas this year…

The ice cream product eaten by all five has been traced to one of the production lines at Blue Bell headquarters in Brenham, Texas, where the machinery was immediately taken off line.

The chief executive of the Brenham creamery, Paul Kruse, said contamination of the ice cream could only have taken place at the point of production.

The company has removed a list of products from shelves and the CDC has called on the public to destroy any they have in their freezer, as the products have a shelf life of up to two years.

Blue Bell doesn’t make anything we consume in our family – we don’t especially eat ice cream; but, there are beaucoup places where the brand is so well established consumption is as much a tradition as a matter of taste.

RTFA for a listing of the kinds of ice cream products from Blue Bell that should be taken from your freezer and destroyed if you have any of them.

Banned dietary supplements back on the shelves – still adulterated

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Many dietary supplements recalled by the FDA for containing banned ingredients find their way back on the shelves, still adulterated, researchers found.

In an analysis of products recalled between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2012, about two-thirds still contained banned ingredients when analyzed an average of nearly 3 years later, Pieter Cohen…and colleagues reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Action by the FDA has not been completely effective in eliminating all potentially dangerous adulterated supplements from the U.S. marketplace,” they wrote. “More aggressive enforcement of the law, changes to the law to increase the FDA’s enforcement powers, or both will be required if sales of these products are to be prevented in the future…”

A total of 274 supplements had been recalled during the 4-year study period, and 27 of these met inclusion criteria and were analyzed. They had been purchased a mean of 34 months after FDA recalls.

Overall, they found that 67% of the recalled supplements still had pharmaceutical adulterants in them. In most cases (63%), it was the same adulterant identified by the FDA, but in some cases (22%) they contained different banned substances…Sometimes the products contained both the banned ingredient identified by FDA and additional adulterants, though the researchers did not give a specific percentage.

Cohen and colleagues also looked at supplements by type, finding that 85% of sports enhancement remained adulterated, along with 67% of weight-loss supplements, and 20% of sexual enhancement supplements…The majority…were made by U.S. manufacturers…

Golly. Think the manufacturers have anything to worry about? Will Congress spend as much time on this dangerous crap as they do on fancier – and useless – policies like examining planes landing from West Africa for Ebola? Since there are no planes landing in the United States directly from West Africa!

The Party of NO, Congressional Republicans care less about the health of Americans than almost anything else. Watching an assembly of hypocrites join and mingle in a dance of meaningless slogans is about as productive as guarding a landfill from scavengers. A healthy society has no need for garbage-pickers.

Meanwhile, the FDA has toothless authority to stop crap from being sold over-the-counter as diet supplements.

Uncle Ben’s infused rice recalled after school lunch sickens kids

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The Food and Drug Administration and Texas Department of State Health Services have alerted consumers to a recall of Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice products distributed in Texas, after children and staff at three schools in Katy became ill on Friday.

About 50 people who ate Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice Mexican Flavor at lunch on Friday complained of burning, itching, rashes, headaches and nausea, symptoms that subsided after 30 to 90 minutes.

After the incident, Mars Foodservices said that it decided to recall all of the Infused Rice products produced since Jan. 1, 2013…

Mars also said that a small amount of the rice could be purchased online and urged anyone with the product to return it.

The recall includes Infused Rice products that were sold in 5 and 25-pound bags to institutions, like schools, hospitals and prisons.

First reporting after the Katy schools sickness declared that this Uncle Ben’s preparation had already been recalled – and that schools should have known about it. Dunno if that changed, if the reports filtering through our stellar network TV news mavens were incorrect or if the correction and recall happened afterwards.

Regardless, you have to wonder what passes for risk management in large economy-size corporations. Mass poisonings even when not fatal are likely to end up in class action suits requiring a lot more cash being dispensed than in standardized insurance settlements.

Where’s the beef? Unsound, unwholesome and unfit for human consumption…

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It all ends up looking like this

A California meat company has issued a recall of some 8.7 million pounds of meat as it was processed from “diseased and unsound” animals.

The Department of Agriculture”s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) revealed that the said meat was processed and sold without federal inspection.

Petaluma-based Rancho Feeding Corp. has recalled the meat that was sold in the form of beef carcasses and boxes of beef oxtail, liver, cheeks and tongue in four U.S. states; California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.

The recalled products were produced from in the first week of January and had pack sizes ranging between 30 pounds and 60 pounds. The Beef carcasses and boxes carried the establishment number “EST. 527″ inside the USDA mark of inspection…

“The products are adulterated, because they are unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food and must be removed from commerce,” the FSIS said.

The recall has been categorized as ‘Class 1 level’ which is considered to be the most serious and indicates that the product in question has the potency to cause “serious, adverse health consequences or death.”

We keep being told we have the safest, healthiest food in the world. That is – unless you apparently shop at Walmart, Kroger, Brookshire’s, and on and on. Sometimes, I think those low price value meats make it to store shelves because some chain store executive figures the profits are larger than the lawsuits from survivors!

Of course, if state and federal officials performed the tasks we entrust them with – we might stand a better chance of a long and healthy life.

Recall – DiGiorno and California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas

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Nestle USA’s Pizza Division is voluntarily recalling select production codes of four different frozen pizzas sold nationwide due to plastic…

Officials said they took the action after a small number of consumers reported they had found small fragments of clear plastic on the California Pizza Kitchen Crispy Thin Crust White pizza…

Recalled are:

— California Pizza Kitchen Crispy Thin Crust White, UPC 71921 98745; production codes: 3062525951, 3062525952 and 3063525951.

— California Pizza Kitchen Limited Edition Grilled Chicken with Cabernet Sauce, UPC 71921 00781; production code 3059525952.

— DiGiorno Crispy Flatbread Pizza Tuscan Style Chicken, UPC 71921 02663; production codes 3057525922 and 3058525921.

— DiGiorno pizzeria! Bianca/White Pizza, UPC 71921 91484; production code 3068525951.

Consumers who might have purchased the recalled pizzas with the identified production codes should not consume the pizza, but instead contact the Nestle USA Consumer Services at 1-800-456-4394 or nestlepizza@casupport.com for further instructions Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., E.T. and this Saturday, May 4th from 12 noon to 8 p.m.

Poisonally, I advocate buying good bread and pizza from local bakers. Or baking your own.

Use the Search box for focaccia and try my recipe. I’ll try to get off my butt and include my basic bread recipe, soon – and I have a couple of experiments to try based on the techniques used in an article on Neopolitan Pizza in the current issue of SAVEUR.

Ain’t any of it especially difficult, folks. You’ll appreciate the freshness, the results of your own efforts.

Subaru recalling zombie cars!

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The Japanese automaker Subaru is recalling nearly 50,000 zombie-vehicles because they run the risk of starting themselves, without human intervention.

Subaru said the recall applies to 47,419 Legacy, Outback and Impreza models produced from 2010 to 2013. The recall also includes Crosstrek vehicles from 2013.

But the vehicles’ defect does not seem to be paranormal. The affected Subarus contain an automatic transmission and an Audiovox remote engine starter, according to the automaker.

“If the [remote engine starter] is dropped, the fob may malfunction and randomly transmit an engine start request without pressing the button,” read the recall letter from Subaru of America, addressed to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This is no small matter, according to the Subaru letter, which detailed what can happen when the car takes on a life of its own:

“The engine may inadvertently start and run for up to 15 minutes,” the letter said. “The engine may continue to start and stop until the fob battery is depleted, or until the vehicle runs out of fuel. If the vehicle is parked in an enclosed area, there is a risk of carbon monoxide build-up which may cause asphyxiation.”

The letter to the NHTSA didn’t say anything about drooling or staggering.

600,000 single-service coffeemakers recalled for burn risk

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More than 600,000 coffeemakers are being voluntarily recalled in the United States and Canada due to an apparent brewing malfunction that can release a gusher of steaming water and grounds. More than 61 injuries, including facial and hand burns, have been reported…

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement that a buildup of steam in certain Chinese-made Mr. Coffee Single Cup Brewing System models can force open the brewing chamber and spew the contents.

Importer Sunbeam Products…said it had received 164 reports of the malfunction and claims of 61 burn-related injuries.

The coffeemaker priced between $60 and $80 comes in black with silver, red or white trim. It is 11 inches tall and has a Brew Now/Off button and a removable drip tray.

The consumer agency said the water tank is on top of the unit toward the back. The model number is printed on the bottom of the brewer.

The coffeemaker was manufactured in China and sold from September 2010 through August 2012 nationwide at a number of stores including Bed Bath and Beyond, JC Penney, Kmart, Target and Walmart.

Consumers who have the brewer should stop using it and contact Jarden Consumer Solutions for instructions on obtaining a free replacement.

I have no need for a coffee maker that small. I can see the need in some households, some offices. I need my cuppa two at a time.

Click into the article for instructions on how to contact the distributor – and check model numbers. Don’t hurt yourself.

Would you like a deal on hamburger — from Cargill?

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Nearly 15 tons of ground beef have been recalled by a unit of agriculture conglomerate Cargill in connection with a seven-state outbreak of salmonella across the northeast and Virginia, the United States Department of Agriculture said.

Cargill Meat Solutions, based in Wichita, Kansas, voluntarily recalled 29,339 pounds of fresh ground beef products produced at its Wyalusing, Pa., plant that may be contaminated with salmonella, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced late Sunday.

The products were produced on May 25, 2012, and shipped to distribution centers in Connecticut, Maine and New York. The recalled meat was sold in Hannaford supermarket stores in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, said the USDA.

Though the meat’s use-by date has passed and it is no longer sold at retail, the recall was made on concerns that some product may be frozen in consumers’ freezers, the USDA said…

Cargill said…”Food borne illnesses are unfortunate and we are sorry for anyone who became sick from eating ground beef we may have produced.”

See. Now, it’s all OK. Until the next time. Next month, next week?

These were 14-pound chubs of ground beef packed 3 to a case. That’s right. 42 pounds of ground crap colored red and carrying friendly microscopic critters inside. Generally, sold this way to folks who repackage it into smaller chubs all the way down to pre-formed hamburger patties.

If they remembered, they carried forward the same sell-by-date. They may be in the freezer of your refrigerator not looking at all like the torpedoes described by Cargill.

I buy ground beef from my local Whole Foods – who can tell me which ranch in Colorado the critter was roaming, last week. Probably the name of the cow.

Recall of Excedrin, Bufferin, NoDoz and more!

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Daylife/Getty Images used by permission

Pharmaceutical company Novartis on Sunday voluntarily recalled a number of over-the-counter drugs — including certain bottles of Excedrin and Bufferin — because of complaints about mislabeled and broken pills…it urged U.S. consumers to “either destroy or return unused” products that are part of the recall.

The items involved in the voluntary recall include Excedrin and NoDoz products with expiration dates of December 20, 2014, or earlier, as well as Bufferin and Gas-X Prevention products with December 20, 2013, or earlier expiration dates.

“(Novartis) is taking this action as a precautionary measure, because the products may contain stray tablets, capsules or caplets from other Novartis products, or contain broken or chipped pills,” the company said.

The moves follows Novartis’ decision to suspend operations at, and shipments from, its Lincoln, Nebraska, facility. The company said this was done “to accelerate maintenance” and make other improvements, adding that it currently “is not possible” to determine when the plant will reopen…

While Novartis announced Sunday’s recall, it said that it did so “with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” This came about after an internal review and assessment of complaints identifying “issues such as broken gelcaps, chipped tablets and inconsistent bottle packaging.”

If you want to see a detailed list – and I really recommend you do so – of products associated with the recall, please click on the link and go here.