Food recalls in EU – Week 19 – 2014

This week on the RASFF database (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) we have three recalls from consumers in EU in the alert notification:

– Poor or insufficient controls: inadequate thermal processing on plum bread and butter pudding, following a consumer complaint. Origin United Kingdom, notified by United Kingdom, distributed also to Ireland;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Bacillus Cereus in sweet peppers, following an official control on the market. Origin Spain, notified by France;

– Pesticide residues: unauthorised substance chlorate in frozen broccoli, following company’s own check. Origin Spain (via Belgium), notified by Germany.

Between the information for attention and the information for follow-up, we find four recalls from consumers:

– Allergens: undeclared milk ingredient in lentil dahl seasoning sachets, following company’s own check. Origin United Kingdom, notified by United Kingdom, distributed also to Australia;

– Pesticide residues: anthraquinone in black tea, following an official control on the market. Origin Germany, notified by Austria;

– Composition: unauthorised substance magnesium aspartate in food supplement, following an official control on the market. Origin United States, notified by Finland;

– Composition: unauthorised substance magnesium aspartate in food supplement, following an official control on the market. Origin Sweden, notified by Finland.

Between the alert notifications, followed by a withdrawal from the market of the product, we find:

– Residues of veterinary medicinal products: residue level above MRL for doxycycline in chilled chicken, following an official control on the market. Origin Belgium, notified by Belgium, distributed to France, Germany and Netherlands;

– Heavy metals: cadmium in fresh spinach, following an official control on the market. Origin Belgium, notified by Belgium, distributed to France, Germany, Luxembourg and Netherlands;

– Heavy metals: mercury in frozen skinless and boneless swordfish loins, following an official control on the market. Origin Indonesia, packaged in Belgium, notified by Belgium, distributed also to France, Finland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania and Sweden;

– Composition: unauthorised substance sildenafil thiono analogue in food supplements, following an official control on the market. Origin Czech Republic, notified by Italy, distributed also to Germany, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Slovenia;

– Industrial contaminants: benzo(a)pyrene in organic green tea extract, following company’s own check. Origin United Kingdom, notified by Netherlands, distributed also to Belgium and Czech Republic;

– Allergens: undeclared peanuts in chocolate figure (shape of chickens), following an official control on the market. Origin Italy (via Austria), notified by Slovakia;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: too high count of Escherichia Coli in chilled oysters, following company’s own check. Origin France, notified by France, distributed also to Belgium.

In Italy we had seizures of frozen mackerel shark fillets from Spain and of frozen mako shark from Portugal for high content of mercury. It is several months which that is a weekly problems, mostly for fish and fish products from Spain and Portugal.

Regarding border rejections we have, among the others, Salmonella group C in frozen seasoned turkey breasts from Brazil, aflatoxins in whole dried chillies from India, missing import declaration for sesame seed oil from Japan, unauthorised placing on the market of relax tea containing St. John Wort (Hypericum perforatum) from the United States, mercury in frozen snapper from New Zealand, cadmium in frozen mussels from Chile, fipronil in chilli peppers from the Dominican Republic, too high content of sulphite in dried banana, pineapple, mango from the Philippines, unauthorised substance chlorate in melons from Honduras, unauthorised use of colour E 110 – Sunset Yellow FCF in sauce from the Dominican Republic and too high content of colour E 110 – Sunset Yellow FCF  in carbonated orange soft drinks from Saudi Arabia, via the United Arab Emirates.

For feed, we have an alert notification for:

– Industrial contaminants: melamine in inactive yeast, following company’s own check. Origin Lithuania, notified by Ireland, distributed also to Belgium.

For food contact materials we have an information for attention notification, followed by a recall from consumers:

– Migration: inner coating cracked in metal canteens, following a consumer complaint. Origin Honk Kong, notified by Greece.

We have also border rejections for corrosion of barbecue grids and too high level of overall migration from stainless steel knives from China.

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