The USDA today named McCain Foods as the supplier of potentially contaminated corn cited in the string of recalls for a variety of foods from hundreds of retailers in recent days, WalMart, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and 7-Eleven.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) told Food Safety News that, as of this afternoon, McCain Foods had been identified as the supplier in all of the corn-related recalls the agency has posted in recent days. 

The recall notices say the corn is potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella bacteria, but they do not include the name of the corn supplier or any details about how the contamination occurred. All of the recall notices say no confirmed illnesses have been reported.

Yesterday, Oct. 18, the Midwest grocery chain Hy-Vee named McCain Foods supplied ingredients for fresh meat, poultry, and potato products under recall from all of its 245 stores across eight states. The recall notice says the ingredients from McCain, caramelized mushrooms and dried tomatoes, are potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella.

The Food and Drug Administration posted the Hy-Vee notice today, with McCain named as the supplier. All of the recall notices, whether or not they provide the name, say the supplier involved notified the recalling company of the potential contamination.

McCain Foods, headquartered in Ontario, Canada, is a privately owned multinational company specializing in frozen foods, especially potato products such as french fries and other vegetables. The company has many business customers, including other food companies, retailers, restaurants and institutional foodservice operations such as school districts.

As of today, the McCain website does not appear to have any information on its public pages regarding the corn, mushroom or tomato recalls. However, a blogger, Ammon Collinwood, has posted what he says is an Oct. 15 recall notice issued by McCain for its fire-roasted black bean corn blend because it could be contaminated with Listeria and Salmonella. The implicated blend is packaged in cases with six 2-pound packages.

For related stories, please see:

• Prime Deli Corp. recalls 7-Eleven salads for risk of Listeria, Salmonella in corn
• Trader Joe’s salads, Mary’s Harvest wraps recalled for risk from corn
• Producer recalls Marketside brand salads for risk of contaminated corn
• Salad recall includes Whole Foods 365 brand; corn poses a risk of infection
• Potentially contaminated corn prompts grocery chain to recall the chicken salad
• McCain Foods recall causes Hy-Vee to recall meat, poultry, potato products

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