Food recall in EU – Week 5/2015

This week on the EU RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) we can find the following notifications:

1. Alerts followed by a recall from consumers:

– Allergens: undeclared hazelnut and almond in peanut butter from the Netherlands, following a food poisoning. Notified by Denmark, distributed also to Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Sweden;

–  FEED. Composition: too high content of ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) seeds (99 and 82 mg/kg – ppm) in mix for wild birds from Germany, following an official control on the market. Notified by Denmark;

– FEED. Composition: too high content of ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) seeds (200 and 221 mg/kg – ppm) in sunflower seeds from Germany, following an official control on the market. Notified by Denmark;

– FEED. Composition: too high content of ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) seeds (100 mg/kg – ppm) in seed mixture for bird feed from Austria, following an official control on the market. Notified by Denmark;

– Mycotoxins: aflatoxins (B1 = 6.7; Tot. = 11 µg/kg – ppb) in sesame seeds from Nigeria, via Sweden, following an official control on the market. Notified by Finland;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Bacillus cereus (2200 CFU/g) in mini rice cakes vanilla from the Netherlands, following company’s own check. Notified by Germany;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in grinded melon seeds from the United Kingdom, via the Netherlands, following an official control on the market. Notified by Austria;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Listeria monocytogenes (1500 CFU/g) in raw milk cheese from Spain, following company’s own check. Notified by France.

2. Information for attention/for follow up followed by a recall from consumers:

– Packaging defective: incorrect use of packaging for smoked salmon from Belgium, following company’s own check. Notified by Belgium, distributed also to Luxembourg;

– Risk of chemical contamination of brown beans from Nigeria, following an official control in non-member country. Notified by Ireland;

3. Alerts followed by a withdrawal from the market:

– Allergens: undeclared lactoprotein in meat sauce from Italy, following company’s own check. Notified by Italy, distributed also to Switzerland;

– Biotoxins: Staphylococcal enterotoxin (9,4 x 10^5 CFU/g) in egg pasta from Poland, following an official control on the market. Notified by Germany;

– Foreign bodies: glass fragments in canned mushrooms from China, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Netherlands, distributed also to Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States and Yemen;

– Foreign bodies: glass fragments (11 glass pieces, 1 cm x 1 cm) in broccoli from Poland, following company’s own check. Notified by Belgium;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Listeria monocytogenes (presence /25g) in various cheeses from Austria, following company’s own check. Notified by Austria, distributed also to Slovenia, Italy and Germany;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Salmonella enteritidis in frozen chicken leg from Belgium, following an official control in non-member country. Distributed also to Germany, Netherlands, South Africa and Switzerland;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Salmonella enterica (presence /10g) in frozen kangaroo meat preparations from the Netherlands, with raw material from Australia, via Belgium, following an official control in non-member country. Notified by Netherlands;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in frozen springbok steak from Namibia, via Belgium, following an official control on the market. Notified by Netherlands;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in chilled beef meat from Belgium, following an official control on the market. Notified by Belgium, distributed also to Netherlands.

4. Seizures:

We have a seizure in Bulgaria of FEED for fish from the Netherlands for presence of ruminant DNA.

5. Border rejections:

• aflatoxins (B1 = 13.3; Tot. = 16.0 µg/kg – ppb) in hazelnut kernels and in dried organic figs (B1 = 22.2 µg/kg – ppb) from Turkey
• aflatoxins (B1 = 28.6 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachio nuts and in pistachio in shell (B1 = 64.2; Tot. = 72.7 µg/kg – ppb) from Iran
• aflatoxins (B1 = 3.91; Tot. = 13.82 µg/kg – ppb) in blanched peanuts and groundnut kernels (B1 = 5.1; Tot. = 5.9 µg/kg – ppb) from China
• aflatoxins (B1 = 4.6 µg/kg – ppb) in blanched runner groundnuts and groundnuts (B1 = 7.8 µg/kg – ppb) from Argentina
• aflatoxins (B1 = 6; Tot. = 7.4 µg/kg – ppb) in peanut butter from the Philippines
• ochratoxin A (24 µg/kg – ppb) in dried figs from Turkey
• anthraquinone (0.081 mg/kg – ppm) in green tea from China
• carbendazim (0.49 mg/kg – ppm) in artichokes from Egypt
• chlorpyrifos (0.13 mg/kg – ppm) in olives in brine from Egypt
• cinnamon from Indonesia infested with moulds
• parasitic infestation (Anisakis) of dory (Zeus faber) from Mauritania
• unsuitable organoleptic characteristics of frozen skipjack (Euthynnus pelamis) from Curaçao
• flusilazole (0.14 mg/kg – ppm) in peppers, white peppers (0.091 mg/kg – ppm) and hot peppers (0.11 mg/kg – ppm) from Egypt
• methomyl (0.29 mg/kg – ppm) and flusilazole (0.014 mg/kg – ppm) in sweet California yellow and red peppers from Egypt
• FEED: microbiological contamination of peanuts in shell for bird feed from China
• FCM: migration of cadmium (2.3 ->7.6 mg/dm²) and of lead (34 -> 105 mg/dm²) from various glasses from Russia
• FCM: migration of chromium (0.8 mg/kg – ppm) from steel knives and of nickel from oven grids (0.29 mg/kg – ppm) from China
• pickled onions in brine from Vietnam with defective packaging and infested with moulds and with insects
• prothiofos (0.16 mg/kg – ppm), omethoate and dimethoate (sum: 0.14 mg/kg – ppm) in fresh sour mangoes from Thailand
• Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in betel leaves and hulled sesame seeds from India
• Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in sesame seeds from Nigeria
• too high content of sulphite (2239 mg/kg – ppm) in dried apricots from Turkey
• unauthorised novel food ingredient Basil (Ocimum sanctum), novel food ingredient Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) and novel food ingredient camu camu (Myrciaria dubia) in food supplements from Canada
• unauthorised substance chlorfluazuron (0.12 mg/kg – ppm) in tea from Morocco