Food Alert For Action: Consumers and Food Businesses who have purchased products from Bread Spread Ltd – Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on May 14, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Gov UK

PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED AND SUPPLIED BY BREAD SPREAD SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM SALE AND NOT CONSUMED BECAUSE OF SERIOUS FOOD SAFETY RISKS.

Environmental Health and Trading Standards Services have been alerted to remove chilled and ready-to-eat products that include baguettes, french sticks, sandwiches, rolls and wraps manufactured and supplied by Bread Spread Ltd, 22 Balfour Business Centre, Balfour Road, Southall, England, UB2 5BD, under the brand name, Bread Spread, Orbital Foods and Perfect Bite because they have not been manufactured in accordance with food law requirements.

Listeria monocytogenes has been found in the products. These products are also subject to a number of hygiene and traceability contraventions which makes them unsafe to eat.

All food businesses such as catering establishments and corner shops, across the UK supplied by Bread Spread Ltd should withdraw from sale any chilled and ready-to-eat foods and recall from consumers any of these products sold at retail because they are unsafe to eat. Products should be disposed of safely.

It is a developing situation, the list of affected products below may be incomplete. All chilled and ready-to eat foods with a use-by date up to and including 18 May 2024 manufactured or supplied by Bread Spead Ltd are affected.

Product details

Tuna sweetcorn French stick
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Ham cheese French stick
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Egg sausage sandwich
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken tikka sandwich
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken salad sandwich
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken sweetcorn sandwich
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Ham cheese sandwich
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Cheese ploughman sandwich
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken may soft roll
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Tuna sweetcorn soft roll
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Egg mayo soft roll
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Ham cheese torpedo
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken tikka French stick
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Tuna sweetcorn torpedo
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken bacon twist
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Egg mayo torpedo
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Cheese onion soft roll
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken tikka soft roll
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken sweetcorn French stick
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken salad sandwich
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken sweetcorn baguette
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Egg mayo sausage baguette
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Tuna sweetcorn torpedo
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Chicken mayo torpedo
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024
Tuna sweetcorn twist
Pack size All sizes
Use by All date codes up to and including 18 May 2024

Risk statement

The presence of Listeria monocytogenes, a number of hygiene and traceability contraventions which makes these products unsafe to eat.

The presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the above products.

Symptoms caused by this organism can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea. However, in rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications, such as meningitis.

Some people are more vulnerable to listeria infections, including those over 65 years of age, pregnant women and their unborn babies, babies less than one month old and people with weakened immune systems.

Our advice to consumers

If you have purchased any products listed above, or any other products that are chilled or ready-to-eat from Bread Spread Ltd , do not eat them. Instead, dispose of the products safely, at home.

Actions being taken by enforcement authorities:
As these products have not been prepared in accordance with food hygiene, safety and other legislative requirements, they do not comply with the requirements of assimilated EU Regulations. Local Authorities have been requested to remove unsafe products from the market. Any concerns regarding unsafe foods, should be reported to the local authority where it was purchased.

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Posted in food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, food recall, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, product recall, Recall

Research – Microbial community structure of plant-based meat alternatives.

Posted on May 14, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Nature

A reduction in animal-based diets has driven market demand for alternative meat products, currently raising a new generation of plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs). It remains unclear whether these substitutes are a short-lived trend or become established in the long term. Over the last few years, the trend of increasing sales and diversifying product range has continued, but publication activities in this field are currently limited mainly to market research and food technology topics. As their popularity increases, questions emerge about the safety and nutritional risks of these novel products. Even though all the examined products must be heated before consumption, consumers lack experience with this type of product and thus further research into product safety, is desirable. To consider these issues, we examined 32 PBMAs from Austrian supermarkets. Based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, the majority of the products were dominated by lactic acid bacteria (either Leuconostoc or Latilactobacillus), and generally had low alpha diversity. Pseudomonadota (like Pseudomonas and Shewanella) dominated the other part of the products. In addition to LABs, a high diversity of different Bacillus, but also some Enterobacteriaceae and potentially pathogenic species were isolated with the culturing approach. We assume that especially the dominance of heterofermentative LABs has high relevance for the product stability and quality with the potential to increase shelf life of the products. The number of isolated Enterobacteriaceae and potential pathogens were low, but they still demonstrated that these products are suitable for their presence.

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Posted in Bacillus, Bacillus cereus, Enterobacteriaceae, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbial Spoilage, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Pseudomonas, Research, Shewanella

USA – Voluntary Recall of Select Great Value Organic Black Chia Seeds Due to The Possible Presence of Salmonella

Posted on May 14, 2024 by | Leave a comment

FDA

Image 2: “Product label Great Value Organic Chia Seeds, 32 oz.”

May 10, 2024 Natural Sourcing International is initiating a voluntary recall of one lot of Great Value Organic Black Chia Seeds 32 oz. due to the potential presence of Salmonella that may be in some of the finished products. Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. While no adverse events associated with the products have been reported to date, products are being recalled out of an abundance of caution and because consumer safety is the company’s highest priority.

Specific information regarding the recalled products is as follows:

Name

Size

Lot Code

Expiration Date

UPC
Great Value Organic Black Chia Seeds 32 oz 24095 C018 October 30, 2026 078742300665

These products can be identified by the main label on the pouch and the lot number that is printed on the bottom of the back panel of the packaging – see the example below:

Product was sent to Walmart for distribution nationwide via retail sales.

Consumers are directed to throw away products subject to the recall. Natural Sourcing International will provide replacement product upon proof of purchase. Consumers seeking replacement product or with questions regarding this recall can contact Natural Sourcing International, by calling Customer Service at 1-818-405-9705 Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST or emailing the company at customerservice@organically-simple.com.

This recall is being conducted with the knowledge of and in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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Posted in FDA, food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Quality, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, Food Testing, Salmonella

Research – The Top Three Culprits Behind Viral Foodborne Illnesses

Posted on May 13, 2024 by | Leave a comment

FAO

Viruses are the tiniest of microbes, but that doesn’t mean they should be underestimated as a significant threat. While they do require a host to multiply, they can still survive in the environment, including in food, until encountering a victim. Contaminated food can find its way into our refrigerators and meals, and as a result, viruses find their way into our bodies, often causing unpleasant illness or, at worst, death. But there are things that can be done to prevent that from happening. CODEX developed the Guidelines on the Application of General Principles of Food Hygiene to the Control of Viruses in Food in 2012. But since then, things have changed, and new scientific findings call for updating these guidelines. The Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) / World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) has come together to analyse the most recent science on the topic to inform the creation of new guidelines. JEMRA identified three main viruses that require special attention. Alone they cause millions of foodborne illness cases and tens of thousands of deaths annually.

The noroviruses and Hepatitis A virus take their usual place amongst the top viruses causing foodborne illnesses, but interestingly JEMRA identified a third virus that has emerged as a new threat. Check out the video to discover which virus we are referring to, and what are the main food sources of each of these viruses: https://youtu.be/XDKN_l8_ZCE?si=tyiiIMOhXCrKodwS

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Posted in Food Virus, Food Virus Death, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E, Norovirus, Virus

Feedback shows lack of support for planned EU Listeria changes

Posted on May 13, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

More than 80 comments have been submitted on plans to update Listeria monocytogenes rules concerning ready-to-eat (RTE) food in Europe.

Many submissions were against the proposals and raised concerns about how they would work in practice as well as issues around challenge testing and the fact that a zero tolerance approach puts companies off testing and results in problems not being discovered.

The majority of respondents were either companies or business associations. More than a quarter came from the UK while 13 were from France and 12 from Spain.

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Posted in Food Safety Regulations, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes

Belgium – Pit & Pit Company Recall – Aflatoxin

Posted on May 13, 2024 by | Leave a comment

AFSCA

pistachio noten

In agreement with the FASFC, Pit & Pit is withdrawing the Pit & Pit brand “shelled pistachios” product from sale and is recalling it from consumers due to its high aflatoxin content.

Pit & Pit asks its customers not to consume this product and to return it. A free return label can be requested by sending an email with the photo of the label to help@pit-pit.com. Upon receipt of the return, the product will be refunded to you.

Product Description :

  • Product name: Shelled pistachios
  • Brand: Pit & Pit
  • Nature of packaging: transparent jar with black lid
  • Expiration date (DDM): 06/2025
  • Weight and batch numbers:
    • 100g – Lot: L UW8Q0ML6, LUYIMQJZN, LUY3LN2JV
    • 250g – Lot: LUW8Q0ML7, LUYIMQJZO, LUY3LN2JW

The product was sold online, via the website www.pit-pit.com.

For any further information , please contact: help@pit-pit.com

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Posted in Aflatoxin, afsca, Aspergillus Toxin, food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Quality, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Mold Toxin, Mould Toxin, Mycotoxin

France – Dry sausage onion/ rugby/ pont l évêque /camembert/ livarot/neufchâtel/ red wine shallot/ porcini mushrooms/ Normandy/ garlic/ shallot / mimolette – Salmonella

Posted on May 13, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Gov France

Product category
Food
Product subcategory
Meats
Product brand name
The Norman Philou
Model names or references
dry sausage onion/ rugby/ pont l évêque /camembert/ livarot/neufchâtel/ red wine shallot/ porcini mushrooms/ Normandy/ garlic/ shallot / mimolette
Product identification
GTIN Batch Date
3770013089251 F24089003 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089282 F24089002 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089107 F24089004 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089176 F24089005 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089138 F24089006 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089428 F24089007 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089077 F24089008 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089060 F24089009 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089244 F24089010 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089312 F24089011 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089305 F24089012 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
3770013089008 F24089013 Recommended consumption date 07/27/2024
Products List
List_sausage_13.05.2024.pdfAttachment
Packaging
Single sale
Start/end date of marketing
From 04/30/2024 to 05/13/2024
Storage temperature
Product to be stored at room temperature
Health mark
Fr.14.119.001.CE
Further information
Shape according to taste
Geographical sales area
Whole France
Distributors
Deli
List of points of sale
Customer_list_13.05.2024.pdf

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Posted in food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Quality, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, Food Testing, Salmonella

Saudi Arabia – Botulism outbreak traced to mayonnaise at Riyadh restaurant

Posted on May 13, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Arab News

RIYADH: The Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing announced on Saturday that a Saudi Food and Drug Authority laboratory test had found clostridium botulinum in a Bon Tum mayonnaise brand used by the Hamburgini food chain.

Since the bacterium was discovered in a Bon Tum factory, the ministry has collaborated with the SFDA and other authorities to enforce additional measures beyond those previously implemented.

These measures include suspending the distribution of the mayonnaise product and withdrawing it from markets and food facilities across all cities in the Kingdom. They also include halting operations at the factory in preparation for implementing statutory procedures.

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Posted in Clostridium, Clostridium botulinum, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak

Danish Salmonella outbreak traced to English beef

Posted on May 13, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Imported beef is to blame for a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 50 people, according to Danish officials.

Since March, 51 people in Denmark have been infected with the same type of Salmonella, said the Statens Serum Institut (SSI).

The Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak has sickened 31 men and 20 women. Patients are between the ages of less than 1 year old to 83 years old with a median age of 37. They live throughout the country. 18 people have been hospitalized but no deaths have been recorded.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak, Salmonella

Luxembourg – Different cheeses from the Hofkäserei Belrieth brand – Listeria monoctogenes

Posted on May 13, 2024 by | Leave a comment

SAP

The following products are recalled in Luxembourg:

Name Organic Ringelblumenkäse
Brand Hofkäserei Belrieth
Unit 800.0g
Minimum Durability Date (MBD) 05/26/2024
Batch 26032024
Name Biodorfkäse Wiesenblumen
Brand Hofkäserei Belrieth
Unit 800.0g
Minimum Durability Date (MBD) 05/26/2024
Batch 26032024

Danger  : Possible presence of  Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes  can cause fever, headache and gastroenteritis. Vulnerable people such as the immunocompromised and elderly and young children may experience neurological symptoms due to meningitis. Pregnant women should also be particularly attentive to these symptoms.

Gastroenteritis can appear between a few hours and 3 days after consumption, while neurological symptoms can only appear after 3 months. People who have consumed these products and present these symptoms are invited to consult a doctor and report this consumption.

The product can be distributed by different points of sale in Luxembourg.

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Posted in food recall, Listeria, Listeria in Cheese, Listeria monocytogenes, product recall, Recall