Food recalls in EU – Week 14/2015

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: traces of milk in varieties of milk free milk chocolate from the United Kingdom, following a consumer complaint. Notified by United Kingdom, distributed also to Denmark;

– Pesticide residues: methiocarb (2.3 mg/kg – ppm) in curly endive from Belgium, following an official control on the market. Notified by Belgium, distributed also to Germany and Luxembourg;

– Biocontaminants: atropine (4.1 <–> 384; µg/kg – ppb) and scopolamine (2.0 <–> 388 µg/kg – ppb) in millet balls from Hungary, following company’s own check. Notified by Germany, distributed also to Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

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

– FCM. Industrial contaminants: migration of melamine (3.7 mg/kg – ppm) from melamine chopping boards from Turkey, following an official control on the market. Notified by Greece, distributed also to Albania;

-Dried black fungus from Vietnam, via Germany, infested with insects, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Denmark.

3. Alerts followed by a withdrawal from the market:

– Allergens: undeclared almond (<50 mg/kg – ppm) in paella spice mix from Spain, following company’s own check. Notified by France, distributed also to Belgium;

– Allergens: undeclared egg in cheese from Belgium, following company’s own check. Notified by Belgium, distributed also to Luxembourg;

– Allergens: undeclared soya (12.1 mg/kg – ppm) in Prague ham from the Czech Republic, following an official control on the market. Notified by Slovakia, distributed also to Russia;

– Mycotoxins: aflatoxins (B1 = 6; Tot. = 6.9 µg/kg – ppb) in halva from Turkey, following an official control on the market. Notified by Germany, distributed also to Netherlands;

– Biocontaminants: atropine (26 µg/kg – ppb) and scopolamine (11 µg/kg – ppb) in millet honey poppies from Germany, following an official control on the market. Notified by Austria;

– Biocontaminants: atropine (30 µg/kg – ppb) and scopolamine (24 µg/kg – ppb) in gluten free organic millet from Austria, following an official control on the market. Notified by Austria, distributed also to Slovakia;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Clostridium perfringens (5600 CFU/g) in vegan paté from Italy, following company’s own check. Notified by Italy, distributed also to Germany, Greece, Malta, San Marino, Sweden and Switzerland;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: foodborne outbreak suspected to be caused by frozen yellowfin tuna loins from Spain, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Netherlands, distributed also to Belgium;

– Pathogenic micro-organisms: Salmonella spp. (presence/25g) in roquefort blue cheese from raw sheep’s milk from France, following an official control on the market. Notified by Germany, distributed also to Belgium, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg and Netherlands;

– Composition: unauthorised substance gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in food supplement from the Netherlands, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Sweden.

4. Seizures:

In Switzerland we had a seizure of frozen marlin steak from Vietnam, due to the presence of heavy metals (mercury – 2.5 mg/kg – ppm)

5. Border rejections:

• aflatoxins (B1 = 10.1; Tot. = 11.2 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts in shell, in blanched groundnuts kernels (B1 = 11.1; Tot. = 57 µg/kg – ppb), in groundnut kernels (B1 = 157.9; Tot. = 172 / B1 = 7.8; Tot. = 21.1 µg/kg – ppb), in shelled groundnuts (B1 = 4.6; Tot. = 15.6 µg/kg – ppb) and in groundnuts (B1 = 59.52; Tot. = 64.11 µg/kg – ppb) from China
• aflatoxins (B1 = 19; Tot. = 23) in nutmeg from Indonesia
• aflatoxins (B1 = 26.7; Tot. = 28.1 µg/kg – ppb) in chili powder, red chilli (B1 = 91.4; Tot. = 94.5 µg/kg – ppb) and in peanut butter(B1 = 7.3; Tot. = 8.4 / B1 = 3.9; Tot. = 4.6 µg/kg – ppb) from India
• aflatoxins (B1 = 350; Tot. = 390 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios from Iran
• aflatoxins (B1 = 9.3; Tot. = 21.3 µg/kg – ppb) in fig paste from Turkey
• biphenyl (4.76 mg/kg – ppm) in lemons from Turkey
• chlorpyrifos-methyl (0.136 mg/kg – ppm) in pomegranates from Turkey
• dead insects (21.4 %) in organic dried figs from Turkey
• fenpropathrin (0.29 mg/kg – ppm) in dried raisins from Iran
• fipronil (0.029 mg/kg – ppm) in peppers from the Dominican Republic
• malathion (0.20 mg/kg – ppm) and unauthorised substance phorate (0.052 mg/kg – ppm) in pumpkin seeds from China
• poor state of preservation of and incorrect labelling on pasteurized cherries from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
• Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in frozen poultry meat preparation from Brazil and Thailand
• Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in paan/betel leaves from India
• Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in sesame seeds from India
• too high content (2407 mg/kg – ppm) and undeclared (2363 mg/kg – ppm) sulphites in dried apricots from Turkey
• FCM: too high level of overall migration (13.6 mg/kg – ppm) from glassware from China
• FCM: migration of chromium (0.3 mg/kg – ppm) from knives from China
• FCM: migration of chromium (0.6 mg/kg – ppm), of nickel (5.3 mg/kg – ppm) and of manganese (6 mg/kg – ppm) from barbecue grills gaseous fuel from China
• FCM: migration of manganese (1.9 mg/kg – ppm) from barbecue grids and from gas barbecue (2.4 mg/kg – ppm) from China
• FCM: corrosion of and too high level of overall migration (1266 mg/kg – ppm) from stainless steel kitchen utensils from China unfit for use as food contact material (stainless steel AISI 201)
• FCM: absence of certified analytical report for melamine kitchenware from China
• unauthorised substance anthraquinone (0.049 mg/kg – ppm) in green tea from Hong Kong
• unauthorised substance carbendazim (1.2 mg/kg – ppm) in peas from Kenya
• unauthorised substance hexaconazole (0.021 mg/kg – ppm) in green beans from Kenya
• unauthorised substance profenofos (0.11 mg/kg – ppm) in okra from India