FSIS Releases List of Retailers Who Got Burritos From Windsor Foods

Posted by Listeria Lawyer on September 15, 2009

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Tuesday published a list of retailers that might have received one of the 126 cases of Listeria- tainted burritos.

Riverside, CA-based Windsor Foods recalled the 2,268 pounds of “Butcher Boy Red Beef & Bean Burritos” Sept. 11th.

Under a new policy for Class I, High Health Risk recalls, FSIS is suppose to provide the public with lists of retailers most likely to be selling the recalled product.

This time it took FSIS four days to produce the list. It contains the names and locations of 143 convenience stores in seven states that may be selling the 9,072 four-ounce burritos. Most are in Texas (92) and Oklahoma (28). Others are in Iowa (11); Kansas (7); North Dakota (3) and one each in New Mexico and Minnesota.

The FSIS offers the list as a PDF file.

The bad burritos were made on Aug. 3, 2009, and then shipped to a storage center in Minnesota. Windsor Foods does a brisk business selling impulse food items to “C-stores.”

Convenience stores purchase burritos by the case. Each 18-pound case contains 72 burritos. Each case will have a Windsor's establishment number ("EST. 1905) within the USDA inspection mark, a package code of "1219215," and a case code of "2080001." The cases are also stamped "Keep Frozen."

Convenience stores, however, do not typically sell beef and bean burritos by the case.

Customers buy them one or two at time. Of the markings, only the case code is printed on the individual burrito.

No illnesses have yet been associated with the recall and the Windsor Foods discovered the Listeria contamination on its own.

Windsor Foods Recalls Beef & Bean Burritos

Posted by Listeria Lawyer on September 13, 2009

 Riverside, CA-based Windsor Foods has recalled approximately 2,268 pounds of beef and bean burrito products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

Subject to recall are 18-pound bulk cases containing individually wrapped "BUTCHER BOY RED CHILE BEEF & BEAN BURRITOS."

Each case of Butcher Boy brand burritos, subject to recall, contains a total of 72 burritos and bears the establishment number "EST. 1905" within the USDA mark of inspection; the package code "1219215;" the case code "2080001;" and advises "KEEP FROZEN."

The products were produced on August 3, 2009 and distributed to a storage center in Minnesota for further retail sales. The products available for direct consumer purchase will not bear the establishment number and package code. Customers with concerns should contact their point of purchase.

FSIS promises to get back to us with a list of retailers that might be selling the bad burritos to the public.  We'll see how that goes.

No illnesses are yet connected to this recall and it was the company that discovered the contamination.

Government of Canada Accepts All 57 Recommendations From Weatherill Report

Posted by Listeria Lawyer on September 11, 2009

Canada’s conservative government says it will implement all 57 recommendations from an independent investigator it asked to look into the 2008 listeria outbreak that was blamed on ready cut meats from the Maple Leaf Foods Toronto plant.

The recommendations from food safety expert Sheila Weatherill will cost about $75 million to implement. The listeria outbreak was responsible for 22 deaths of mostly elderly Canadians.

The Weatherill study of the outbreak called for easier to clean meat processing equipment and a new leadership role for Canada’s chief public health officer during outbreaks.

The government said it will:

  • Hire 166 new food safety staff, including 70 focused on ready-to-eat facilities.
  • Make health risk assessment teams available 24/7 to support food safety investigations.
  • Improve co-ordination among federal and provincial departments and agencies.
  • Improve communications to vulnerable populations, such as residents of nursing homes, before and during outbreaks.
  • Improve detection methods for Listeria monocytogenes to reduce testing time and respond more quickly during food safety investigations, as well as expand the government's ability to do more listeria testing.
  • Start a third-party audit to ensure the food inspection system has the right resources and priorities.

Big Boy's Ready To Eat Meals For Kids Are Recalled For Listeria Contamination

Posted by Listeria Lawyer on September 04, 2009

In the last ten days, two brands of meal kits for kids made for  Big Boy restaurants were prepared; distributed at both wholesale and retail levels ; tested positive for Listeria contamination; and subjected to a Class 1, High Health Risk recall.

All totaled 39,514 pounds of ready-to-eat meal kits, which were found to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) were recalled on Sept. 1st by the Warren, MI-based Big Boy Food Group.

The recalled products include:

Dinolunch Brand:

 

  • 3.6 oz “DINOLUNCH CARNIVORE HAM & CHEESE” meal kits. Each tray includes ham, cheese, and crackers; a juice drink and Dino cookies. The front of each package bears the establishment number “EST. 4205” inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the Use by/Sell by date of “10/24/2009.”
  • 3.6 oz “DINOLUNCH T-REX TURKEY & CHEESE” meal kits. Each tray includes turkey, cheese, and crackers; a juice drink and Dino cookies. The front of each package bears the establishment number “P- 4205” inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the Use by/Sell by date of “10/24/2009.”

Each case of the Dinolunch brand meal kits, subject to recall, can be identified by the case code “9237” and contains approximately twelve (12) trays. The products were produced on August 25, 2009 and distributed to wholesale and retail establishments in Texas.  The retail distribution list(s) are available in a PDF file on the FSIS website.

Lunch Buddies Brand:

 

  • 3.6 oz “Lunch Buddies Ham & Cheese” meal kits. Each tray includes ham, cheese, and crackers; a juice drink and a sweet treat. The front of each package bears the establishment number “EST. 4205” inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the Use by/Sell by date of “10/24/2009.”
  • 3.6 oz “Lunch Buddies Turkey & Cheese” meal kits. Each tray includes turkey, cheese, and crackers; a juice drink and a sweet treat. The front of each package bears the establishment number “P- 4205” inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the Use by/Sell by date of “10/24/2009.”

Each case of the Lunch Buddies brand meal kits, subject to recall, can be identified by the case code “9237” and contains approximately sixteen (16) trays. The products were produced on August 25, 2009 and distributed to wholesale establishments in Ill., Ind., Ohio, and Wisc. FSIS has no reason to believe that these products are available for consumer purchase as recalled products were distributed only at the wholesale level; so, none of these meal kits would have reached consumers.

Kellogg's Buttermilk Eggo Waffles Made In Atlanta Are Being Recalled

Posted by Listeria Lawyer on September 02, 2009

The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) has found Listeria monocytogenes in a test sample of Kellogg’s Buttermilk Eggo Waffles manufactured at an Atlanta plant.
The positive sample part of a routine inspection by GDA of the Kellogg’s plant at 5601 Bucknell Dr. SW, Atlanta. This product was not shipped into the marketplace and Kellogg has agreed to recall the product.
The recalled product is:

  • Kellogg’s® Eggo® Cinnamon Toast waffles, 10-count package, UPC code 3800040440 with “Best If Used Before” dates beginning with: NOV22 10 EA, NOV23 10 EA and NOV24 10 EA. Kellogg’s® Eggo® Toaster Swirlz™ Cinnamon Roll Minis eight-count package, UPC code 3800023370 with a “Best If Used Before” date beginning with beginning with NOV15 10 EA.

Production was ceased at the plant and an investigation is underway to determine a possible cause of contamination and began a regimen of cleaning and sanitizing. Kellogg will execute its hygienic restoration plan under GDA before it resumes production at the plant.
Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially serious disease. Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections to infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems such as persons with chronic diseases or taking chemotherapy for cancer.

Canada's Food No Safer Than It Was Before Maple Leaf Listeria Outbreak, Says Sun Newspaper

Posted by Listeria Lawyer on September 01, 2009

For its year-after editorial about the Maple Leaf listeria outbreak that killed 22 mostly elderly Canadians living in provincial long-term care facilities or hospitals, the Vancouver Sun sought out some experts.

The newspaper waned to know if Canada's food was safer after all those who died after consuming deli meats contaminated with listeria produced at a government-inspected plant.

"And on the eve of the one-year mark of the outbreak, the verdict is still out on how far we've come to improve the food-safety system in the intervening year.

"Oh, hell no," Rick Holley, University of Manitoba microbiologist and member of the academic advisory panel at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, says bluntly when asked if we're better off.

Mansell Griffiths, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety, is more measured, but hardly makes a definitive pronouncement about the shape we're in today.

"In some respects yes, in some respects no," says Griffiths, a professor in food science at the University of Guelph.

"There's no doubt more rigorous tracking of listeria and sophisticated sanitation protocols are in place at Canada's federally regulated meat plants, where operators were shaken by the realization that steps taken at Maple Leaf Foods Inc., an industry leader in food safety, weren't as good as they needed to be to deal with the ubiquitous bacterium.

"But the agency is still wrestling with a resource problem that sees one meat inspector responsible for an average of five facilities, while struggling with a new oversight system that favours auditing of company paperwork over time on the plant floor."

Read the rest in the Sun.