Food recalls in EU – Week 7/2015

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 almond (>18 mg/kg – ppm) in fajita dinner kit from Sweden, following company’s own check. Notified by United Kingdom, distributed also to Ireland;

– Allergens: undeclared almond (270 mg/kg – ppm) in fajita meal from Sweden, following company’s own check. Notified by United Kingdom, distributed also to Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland;

– Allergens: undeclared almond (306 mg/kg – ppm) in ground cumin from Turkey, following an official control on the market. Notified by United Kingdom, distributed also to Canada, Spain and via INFOSAN;

– Composition: too high content of vitamin A (50 mg/capsule) in food supplement from the United States, via Sweden, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Norway, distributed also to Denmark and Finland;

– Foreign bodies: metal pieces in canned meat stew from Germany, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Germany, distributed also to Austria;

– Mycotoxins: aflatoxins (B1 = 57.2; Tot. = 71.5 / B1 = 180.2; Tot. = 220.9 mg/kg – ppm) in peanuts from China, via Greece, following an official control on the market. Notified by Cyprus;

– Mycotoxins: aflatoxins (B1 = 3.11 µg/kg – ppb) in basmati rice from France, via Belgium, following an official control on the market. Notified by Luxembourg;

– Mycotoxins: deoxynivalenol (DON) (1610; 1690 µg/kg – ppb) in breakfast cereals from Germany, following an official control on the market. Notified by Belgium, distributed also to Bosnia-Herzegovina, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Romania;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Salmonella (presence /25g) in raw cow’s milk cheese from France, following company’s own check. Notified by France, distributed also to Belgium.

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

– Composition: magnesium aspartate unauthorised in food supplement from China, via Sweden, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Norway, distributed also to Denmark and Finland;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Listeria monocytogenes (presence/25g) in blue cheese from France, following company’s own check. Notified by Sweden;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Salmonella Indiana in duck meat from the United Kingdom, following an official control on the market. Notified by Iceland.

3. Alerts followed by a withdrawal from the market:

– Composition: too high content of vitamin D (D3: 0.125 mg/capsule) in food supplements from Sweden, notified from Norway. Distributed also to Denmark and Finland;

– Heavy metals: mercury (1.1; 1.2 mg/kg – ppm) in frozen blue shark (Prionace glauca) from Spain, following an official control on the market. Notified by Spain, distributed also to Portugal;

– Heavy metals: mercury (1.9 mg/kg – ppm) in frozen black marlin steak from Spain, following an official control on the market. Notified by Czech Republic, distributed also to Slovakia;

– Heavy metals: mercury (2; 1.4 mg/kg – ppm) in frozen swordfish from Spain, following an official control on the market. Notified by Spain;

– Heavy metals: cadmium (0.12 mg/kg – ppm) and mercury (3.1 mg/kg – ppm) in frozen black marlin steaks from Spain, packaged in the Czech Republic, following an official control on the market. Notified by Czech Republic, distributed also to Slovakia;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: norovirus in oysters from France, following food poisoning. Notified by France, distributed also to Belgium and Italy.

4. Seizures:

None

5. Border rejections:

• absence of health certificate(s) and absence of certified analytical report for peanut butter from China
• aflatoxins (B1 = 10; Tot. = 12 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from Argentina and from Brazil (B1 = 39; Tot. = 49 µg/kg – ppb)
• aflatoxins (B1 = 11.1; Tot. = 12.3 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled groundnuts and in groundnuts in shell (B1 = 4.7 / B1 = 2.2 µg/kg – ppb) from China
• aflatoxins (B1 = 17 µg/kg – ppb) in chilli peppers from India
• aflatoxins (B1 = 295.5 µg/kg – ppb, B1 = 17.3; Tot. = 19.6 / B1 = 38.9; Tot. = 42.3 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios from Iran
• aflatoxins (B1 = 19.9; Tot. = 41.6 µg/kg – ppb) in apricot kernels from China
• aflatoxins (B1 = 39; Tot. = 43 µg/kg – ppb) in roasted diced hazelnuts from Turkey
• aflatoxins (B1 = 50.9; Tot. = 57.1 / B1 = 22.2; Tot. = 22.3 µg/kg – ppb) in almond kernels from Turkey
• aflatoxins (Tot. = 16.2 µg/kg – ppb) in hazelnuts and hazelnut kernels (Tot. = 27.9 µg/kg – ppb) from Turkey
• ochratoxin A (11.8 µg/kg – ppb) in raisins from Afghanistan
• altered organoleptic characteristics and poor temperature control of frozen tuna from Panama
• chlorpyrifos (0.30 mg/kg – ppm), dithiocarbamates (10.4 mg/kg – ppm), pyrimethanil (0.92 mg/kg – ppm), iprodione (0.860 mg/kg – ppm), tebuconazole (0.42 mg/kg – ppm), tetraconazole (0.052 mg/kg – ppm), lambda-cyhalothrin (0.046 mg/kg – ppm), methoxyfenozide (0.50 mg/kg – ppm), dimethomorph (0.13 mg/kg – ppm), azoxystrobin (2.0 mg/kg – ppm), trifloxystrobin (0.082 mg/kg – ppm), boscalid (1.4 mg/kg – ppm), kresoxim-methyl (0.15 mg/kg – ppm), metrafenone (0.82 mg/kg – ppm) and fluopyram (0.084 mg/kg – ppm) and unauthorised substance fenbutatin oxide (10.9 mg/kg – ppm) in vine leaves in brine from Turkey
• deltamethrin (2.9 mg/kg – ppm) in fresh mint from Morocco
• fenamiphos (0.112 mg/kg – ppm) in sweet peppers from Turkey
• FCM: migration of formaldehyde (32.6; 43.5; 58.7; 44.3 mg/kg – ppm) from plastic serving trays from China
• FCM: migration of nickel (0.2 mg/kg – ppm) from barbecue set from China
• norovirus (G II /25g) in frozen cooked whole white clams (Meretrix lyrata) from Vietnam
• propoxur (0.12 mg/kg – ppm) in dried beans from Ethiopia
• residue level above MRL for albendazole (780 µg/kg – ppb) in corned beef from Brazil
• residue level above MRL for copper (122.2 mg/kg – ppm) in wine leaves from Turkey
• Salmonella Amsterdam (1 out of 5 samples /25g) and Salmonella Mbandaka (4 out of 5 samples /25g) in sesame seeds from India
• Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in hulled sesame seeds from India
• Salmonella spp. (present /25g) in turkey meat preparation from Brazil
• Salmonella spp. in frozen poultry meat preparation from Brazil
• Salmonella spp. in frozen seasoned chicken fillets (Gallus gallus domesticus) from Brazil
• spoilage of salted sheep casings from China
• FEED: too high count of Enterobacteriaceae (820 CFU/g) in fish meal from Mauritania
• FEED: Salmonella spp. in fish meal from Mauritania