This story was updated on March 2, 2013 to include expanded recall information. An Ontario-based specialty cheese company is recalling its gorgonzola cheese for possible Listeria contamination. Arla Foods Inc. of Concord, ON issued a voluntary recall of its Mauri brand gorgonzola Monday because the cheese has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes…. Continue Reading
Earlier this month Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran sent a letter to Rebecca Blank, the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, asking that the Department “vigorously enforce the antidumping order against frozen fish fillets from Vietnam.” The fish Cochran is concerned about is catfish, and his concerns are not new. Every year for more… Continue Reading
Sesame seed paste containing a rare strain of Salmonella sickened 23 people in 7 states and the District of Columbia last year, reveals a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The article, published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report last week, marked the first time the government has told… Continue Reading
The California Department of Public Health is warning consumers not to eat five different dried plum and prune products because they may contain dangerous levels of lead. CDPH issued a health advisory Monday after tests revealed illegal concentrations of lead in the preserved fruits, all of which were imported by California companies from either Hong… Continue Reading
Nina International Wednesday recalled pepper it imported to the U.S. from Ghana for distribution to African and other ethnic food stores in the Washington D.C. area including Maryland and Virginia. Product subject to recall is the Nina brand of Ground Hot Pepper sold in 5 oz. bottles. Nina’s Chris Dabi told Food Safety News that… Continue Reading
Opinion
Everyone with even a cursory interest in FSMA continues to ask, “So when are the four key proposed rules (Produce Safety Standards, Preventive Controls for Human Food, Preventive Controls for Animal Food, and Foreign Supplier Verification Program) going to be published?” I have to confess right up front that I don’t have any better idea… Continue Reading
It is just not an efficient use of resources to move catfish inspection to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to a frank new report by the Government Accountability Office. Seafood safety falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but language in the the 2008 Farm Bill mandated that domestic catfish… Continue Reading
Opinion
When Smiling Hara Tempeh’s managing executive Chad Oliphant began buying starter culture from Maryland-based Tempeh Online to make the popular bean product tempeh, he surely did not expect it to be contaminated with Salmonella (or anything else for that matter). And, why should he? Like most people in his position, I imagine Mr. Oliphant was… Continue Reading
Food products now come to the United States from over 250,000 foreign establishments in 200 countries. Indeed, 15 percent of fruits, 20 percent of vegetables, and 80 percent of seafood come from overseas. And, with the consumption of imported foods growing, we have seen an increase in recalls and foodborne illness outbreaks linked to them…. Continue Reading
The ground beef product that was recalled last week by two South Carolina-based manufacturers was imported from Australia and contaminated before it arrived, according to one of the importers. After testing conducted by the South Carolina Meat and Poultry Inspection Department revealed E. coli in a sample of boxed beef from Australia, two U.S…. Continue Reading
The vast majority of Americans have confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply, according to a new survey by the International Food Information Council, a food industry communications group. The “2012 Food & Health Survey” shows a jump over last year’s confidence numbers, which IFIC found particularly interesting considering the survey was fielded… Continue Reading