Food recalls in EU – Week 27-28/2015

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 gluten and egg in cream of potato & spinach soup from Germany, following a consumer complaint. Notified from United Kingdom, distributed also to Ireland and Italy;

– Allergens: traces of almond in hot paprika and chili powder from China, following company’s own check. Notified by Greece, distributed also to Albania, Cyprus and Germany;

– Allergens: undeclared sulphite (17.0 mg/kg – ppm) in sweets from Belgium, following company’s own check. Notified by Belgium, distributed also to France;

– Allergens: undeclared gluten, soya, nuts and lactose (ingredients list in Danish, Finnish and Swedish is missing on the label) in icecream from Germany, following company’s own check. Notified by Denmark;

– Foreign bodies: plastic fragments in tofu basilico from Germany, following company’s own check. Notified by United Kingdom, distributed also to Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland;

– Foreign bodies: rat droppings in breakfast cereals from the United Kingdom, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Denmark, distributed also to Norway;

– FCM (Food Contact Materials): migration of primary aromatic amines (7.48; 0.005; 0.009 mg/kg – ppm) from plastic kitchenware from China, following an official control on the market. Notified by Poland, distributed also to Slovakia;

– FCM (Food Contact Materials): migration of aluminium (32.8; 14.7 mg/l) from ceramic balls from China, following an official control on the market. Notified by France, distributed also to Belgium;

– Mycotoxins: patulin (147 µg/kg – ppb) in apple juice from Belgium, following company’s own check. Notified by Belgium, distributed also to France.

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

– Foreign bodies: rodent (mouse tail) in chocolate and hazelnut muesli from Belgium, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Greece, distributed also to Denmark;

– Non pathogenic micro-organisms: hazelnut kernels from Sweden infested with moulds, following a consumer complaint. Notified by Denmark, distributed also to Iceland;

– Non pathogenic micro organisms: chilled diced or shredded chicken and pork products from Poland infested with yeasts, following a company’s own check. Notified by Denmark, distributed also to Greenland, Germany and Faeroe Islands;

– Pesticides residues: chlorpyrifos (2.3 mg/kg – ppm) in celery from Laos, following an official control on the market. Notified by Denmark;

– Residues of veterinary medicinal products: sulfonamide (865 µg/kg – ppb) unauthorised in honey from Germany, following an official control on the market. Notified by Germany, distributed also to Austria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Malta, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom;

3. Alerts followed by a withdrawal from the market:

– Allergens: traces of almond in sauces from the Netherlands, following a company’s own check. Notified by Netherlands, distributed also to Austria, Belgium, Curacao, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom;

– Allergens: traces of milk (20 mg/kg – ppm) in marzipan with honey and chocolate from Germany, via Austria, following an official control on the market. Notified by Slovenia, distributed also to Croatia, Estonia, France, Poland and Slovakia;

– Composition: high content of aluminium (253 mg/kg – ppm) in glass noodles from Vietnam, following an official control on the market. Notified by Germany, distributed also to France;

– Heavy metals: cadmium (0.362 mg/kg – ppm) and mercury (4.45 mg/kg – ppm) in frozen swordfish from Spain, following an official control on the market. Notified by France, distributed also to Germany and Ireland;

– Industrial contaminants: sum of dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorobifenyls (22 pg WHO TEQ/g) in eggs from the Netherlands, following company’s own check. Notified by Netherlands, distributed also to Belgium;

– Pesticide residues: chlorpyrifos (0.09 mg/kg – ppm) in frozen broccoli from Poland, following an official control on the market. Notified by Estonia.

4. Seizures:

In Italy we had seizures of stainless steel knives from China for migration of chromium (18.3 mg/l) and of manganese (1.1 mg/l), of complete feed for aquaculture for presence of ruminant DNA and of chilled swordfish loins (Xiphias gladius) from Spain for presence of mercury (1.9 mg/kg – ppm), following official controls on the market.

We had also a seizure

5. Border rejections:

• absence of health certificate(s) for egusi melon seeds from Nigeria and for emu oil capsules and liquid emu oil from the United States, via Canada
• absence of Common Entry Document (CED) for dried beans from Nigeria
• aflatoxins (B1 = 103; Tot. = 119 / B1 = 21.4; Tot. = 25.9 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios in shell and in pistachio kernels (Tot. = 26.9 µg/kg – ppb) from Iran
• aflatoxins (B1 = 14.6; Tot. = 15.4 µg/kg – ppb) in peanuts in shell, in unshelled peanuts (B1 = 5.4; Tot. = 17.9 µg/kg – ppb), in groundnuts kernels (B1 = 12.2; Tot. = 24 µg/kg – ppb) and in groundnuts (Tot. = 95 µg/kg – ppb) from China
• aflatoxins (B1 = 162.6; Tot. = 242.9 µg/kg – ppb) in peanut chips from Nigeria
• aflatoxins (B1 = 18.85; Tot. = 11.84 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from Brazil
• aflatoxins (B1 = 27.1 µg/kg – ppb) in roasted pistachios from Turkey
• aflatoxins (B1 = 30; Tot. = 33 µg/kg – ppb) in nutmeg from Indonesia
• aflatoxins (B1 = 28; Tot. = 31 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled pistachios, in pistachios in shell (B1 = 82.8; Tot. = 89 µg/kg – ppb) and in shelled almonds (B1 = 15 µg/kg – ppb) from the United States
• aflatoxins (B1 = 89.4; Tot. = 93.9 µg/kg – ppb) and ochratoxin A (45 µg/kg – ppb) in and absence of labelling on mixed spices from Kuwait
• attempt to illegally import dried beans from Nigeria
• chlorpyrifos (0.12 mg/kg – ppm), cyhalothrin (0.37 mg/kg – ppm) and unauthorised substance dichlorvos (0.32 mg/kg – ppm) in dried beans from Nigeria
• endosulfan (0.14 mg/kg – ppm) and buprofezin (0.60 mg/kg – ppm) in green tea from South Korea
• FCM: migration of cadmium (0.453 mg/dm²) from ceramic spoons from China
• FCM: migration of nickel (672 mg/kg – ppm) from wine stopper from China, via Hong Kong
• high counts of coliforms (160000 CFU/g) and of Enterobacteriaceae (170000 CFU/g) in peanut kernels from Turkey
• fenitrothion (0.05 mg/kg – ppm) in olives in brine from Egypt
• mercury (1.893 mg/kg – ppm) in chilled tuna from Ecuador
• peanuts in shell from China infested with moulds and with mites
• poor temperature control (-4.9; -6.7; -5.5 °C) of frozen whole chicken from Ukraine, (+6 <–> 11 °C) of chilled fish from Pakistan, (+8.8; 6.8; 7.4; 6.6; 7.0 °C) of chilled swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and (> -12 °C) of frozen boneless beef meat (Bos taurus) from Chile, of chilled fish from India, (-3.5<–> -10.4 °C) of frozen shimps (Penaeus vannamei) from Malaysia and (-7.6, – 8.2, – 7.8, – 8.5, -10.8, -7.1 °C) of chilled tuna (Thunnus albacares) from Sri Lanka
• Salmonella spp. (in 1 out of 5 samples /25g) in paan/betel leaves from India
• Salmonella spp. (presence /25g) in hulled sesame seeds from India
• Salmonella (present /25g) in frozen salted chicken, in frozen salted chicken preparation and in frozen salted boneless skinless chicken breasts from Thailand
• too high content of colour E 102 – tartrazine (0.08 %) and unauthorised use of colour E 110 – Sunset Yellow FCF (0.005 %) and of colour E 129 – Allura Red AC (0.08 %) in canned preserved vegetables from Mexico
• unauthorised colour Sudan 4 (0.8 mg/kg – ppm) in palm oil from Ghana