eFoodAlert

Here is today’s list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals, allergy alerts and miscellaneous compliance issues. The live links will take you directly to the official recall notices and company news releases that contain detailed information for each recall and alert.

United States

• Food Safety Recall: Dole Fresh Vegetables recalls DOLE® Seven Lettuces Salad (UPC 71430 01057; Product codes 0577N089112A and 0577N089112B; Use by date April 11, 2012) after New York State detected Salmonella in a random sample of the salad. The recalled product was sold in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin, including in Price Chopper and the Kroger family of supermarkets (specifically, Kroger stores located in Greater Cincinnati, including Northern Kentucky, Dayton, OH and South Eastern Indiana, Central and Northwest Ohio and N. West Virginia panhandle, Indiana (except SW IN, -Evansville-), Illinois, Eastern Missouri, Michigan, Greater Louisville (including Indiana), Lexington, and Nashville, TN; Jay C, Dillons, Baker’s, Gerbes, Food4Less and FoodsCo stores).
• Pet Food Safety Update: Diamond Pet Foods has suspended delivery of all products made at its Gaston, SC facility, according to WMBF News. The announcement came one week after the company recalled Diamond Natural Lamb Meal and Rice dry dog food due to possible Salmonella contamination.

Europe

• Food Safety Recall (Denmark): recalls Sara Lee Pizzakit, includes pizza dough and tomato sauce (600g; Best before 10th May 2012), due to contamination with small plastic pieces.
• Food Safety Alert (Italy): The Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta alerts consumers that Reblochon cheese was recalled in France by the producer, after Brucella was found in cattle in the region where the cheese was produced. While the recalled Reblochon cheese was not exported, travelers to France may have purchased the cheese and brought it back with them to Italy. This cheese should be discarded.
• Food Safety Recall (Italy): DICO Italia Spa recalls Ultra-High Temperature part-skim milk produced by DE BY 723 EG Molkerei Gropper Gmbh (Expiry date ), because the milk may be implicated in a foodborne illness.
• Food Safety Recalls (Germany): Several have recalled their eggs due to exposure to dioxin-like PCBs. In some cases, the levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs exceeded the allowable maximum levels.
• Outbreak Alert (Russia): Outbreaks of gastroenteritis have been reported in . In the last week, 209 residents of the city developed acute intestinal infections; more than half of the victims were children less than 14 years old.
• Outbreak Alert (Ireland): Three hospital patients contracted Listeria infections while in hospital. The Listeria infection contributed to the death of one of the three patients – described by the hospital’s Director of Nursing as a “frail, elderly patient who had other illnesses.”
• Outbreak Alert (UK): Fifty guests at a diamond wedding celebration in Wolverhampton at the end of March became infected with Norovirus. Investigations found that the virus did not originate either with the venue or with its caterers.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0536): Unauthorized formic acid in chilled white sour cabbage in salty brine from Poland; distributed to the Czech Republic.
• Animal Feed Safety Notification (EU #2012.0537): Salmonella spp. in cotton seeds from Mozambique; distributed to Italy.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0538): Insect infestation in cheese burger from Germany; distributed to Italy.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0539): Parasitic infestation with Anisakis of chilled hake from Croatia; distributed to Italy.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0540): Dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in organic “bio” eggs from Germany; distributed to Germany.
• Food Safety Notification (EU #2012.0541): Brucella in raw cow milk cheese from France; distributed to France.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Pharmaceutical Product Safety Alert (China): The State Food and Drug Administration has suspended the sale of 13 drugs that may have been made with capsules that contain industrial gelatin instead of edible gelatin. Industrial gelatin contains a higher concentration of chromium than edible gelatin.
• Food Safety News (China): China’s State Food and Drug Administration will conduct a food safety review of primary and secondary schools and kindergartens across China to screen for safety hazards. The initiative was prompted by a recent string of food poisoning incidents in schools, including three outbreaks in Yunnan province schools since March.
• Food Safety News (Abu Dhabi): The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority logged a total of 472 food safety complaints in the first quarter of 2012. This is an increase of 153% over the same period last year.
• Outbreak Alert (India): At least one man is dead and ten other people developed symptoms of food poisoning over the past three days in the Thousand Lights area of Chennai. One eatery and a guest house have been closed down, according to the Times of India.
• Outbreak Alert (Zambia): The Times of Zambia reports 15 new cases of typhoid in the Kabwe District, making a total of 174 cases in the current outbreak.
• Outbreak Alert (Ghana): The cholera death toll in Accra has risen to 19 people; 1,200 cases have been recorded in Ghana’s capital city. New cases of cholera also have been reported in the Eastern Region of the country.

Australia and New Zealand

• Burmese Medicines Safety Alert (Australia): The Therapeutics Goods Administration and the governments of Queensland and of New South Wales warn consumers not to purchase or use Burmese traditional powders, often used for digestion and strength in babies. Samples of these powders, recently purchased in Sydney, have been found to contain dangerously high levels of arsenic.
• Outbreak Alert (Australia): At least 36 out of more than 200 workers on a gas production platform have fallen victim to an outbreak of Salmonella gastroenteritis in the past two weeks. Workers are calling for their barge to be returned to port for decontamination. The outbreak is believed to have originated from the consumption of improperly prepared meat, according to a report in The Age.

Some supermarket chains post recall notices on their web sites for the convenience of customers. To see whether a recalled food was carried by your favorite supermarket, follow the live link to the supermarket’s recall web site.