Food Recall: Plum Organics

Clostridium Botulinum in Baby Food

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(Business Wire)-- Plum Organics announced today that it is taking the precautionary measure of voluntarily recalling one particular batch of its 4.22 oz. Apple & Carrot Portable Pouch baby food with the best by date May 21, 2010 and marked with the following universal product code (UPC) #890180001221 located on the bottom of the package. These pouches are sold individually at Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us locations nationally.

No illnesses have been reported in connection with this product and no other Plum Organics products are affected. As a further precaution, samples from every Plum Organics product manufactured before and after this batch were tested and found to be within quality standards.

The recall was undertaken as a precaution due to the risk of potential contamination with Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, a serious and sometimes life-threatening condition. Consumers should not use these products, even if they appear to be normal, because of the possible health risk. Symptoms of botulism poisoning in humans include general weakness, dizziness, double vision and trouble with speaking or swallowing. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention.

"The product did not meet the FDA guidelines for proper acidity level," said Dr. Paul Gerhardt, a Food Science Ph.D. and member of the Plum Organics action team. "Though the risk of illness from this one batch is minimal, Plum Organics is taking the extraordinary step of recalling all Apple & Carrot Baby Food Pouches with best by date May 21, 2010."

The official recall notice can be found at: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm187323.htm

Senate Hearing on New Food Safety Bill Tomorrow: 10/22 at 10:00 am

At 10:00 am (Eastern), the first hearing about S. 510: The Food Safety Modernization Act by the HELP Committee will commence. The committee will hear testimony from several experts in the field, such as FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, and safe food advocate Caroline Smith Dewaal, Director of Food Safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). She will be sharing the story of S.T.O.P. member Mike Thomas, who was sickened in the first peanut outbreak in 2007.

Watch the hearing at: http://help.senate.gov/

S.T.O.P. - Safe Tables Our Priority is a national, nonprofit, public health organization dedicated to preventing illness and death from foodborne pathogens. For more information, please visit http://www.safetables.org.

Pistachios - Salmonella Update

Reposted, verbatim, from a announcement made by the National Confectioners Association:

Earlier this week, Setton Pistachio announced that it is expanding its recall to include all lots of roasted in-shell pistachios, roasted shelled pistachios, and raw shelled pistachios from the 2008 crop (unless they are subsequently roasted prior to retail sale). Here is a link to the press release of the expanded recall: http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/setton204_09.html

This comes in response to FDA finding Salmonella bacteria in "critical areas" of the Setton plant in California, as well as practices that could have resulted in cross-contamination between raw and roasted product.

FDA is advising industry not to sell or serve any pistachios or pistachio-containing products until they can determine their source. If the source is Setton, the products are subject to the recall.

If a confectioner can confirm that its pistachios were not supplied by Setton, it may wish to request listing on www.pistachiorecall.org. This website, sponsored by CAL-PURE and the Western Pistachio Association, lists firms that informed the sponsors that their products do not contain pistachios from Setton. FDA has a link to this website on its own website, but FDA states that it has not verified the information on the website. FDA's webpage on the recall can be found at: http://www.fda.gov/pistachios/.

While FDA initially advised consumers to avoid pistachio products altogether, the agency is now advising the public not to eat pistachio products unless they can determine that products do not contain nuts from Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc.