YET ANOTHER CILANTRO RECALL

I use a lot of fresh herbs in cooking. Most of them I grow myself (and share with our friends and neighbors). In fact, I have just returned from buying another French tarragon plant. But for some reason, I have a hard time growing cilantro, which I love to use in a number of dishes. That's really too bad, since it is contaminated on a regular basis. We have at least one recall a year in the U.S. As for example, now.

Buurma Farms, Inc. of Willard, Ohio, is voluntarily recalling 465 boxes of cilantro. The Cilantro was sold to distributors in Michigan on August 3, 2013. But some of the product was also shipped to retail stores in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. And who knows what prepared foods it was used in and where these ended up.

Of course, the bacterium that caused the contamination was our common culprit, Listeria monocytogenes. This tiny bacterium is pretty deadly. Beware pregnant women. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths. It can also cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, or anyone with a weakened immune system.

On the other hand, some people don't get any symptoms at all, or, may just have short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Lucky you, if that is all you get.

Of course -- and this always annoys me -- the recall states that no illnesses related to this product have been reported so far. Great! Listeriosis has an extremely variable incubation period (time between being exposed and developing symptoms). It can range from 3 to 70 day - some say even 90 days. However, symptoms usually appear within a month.

Do the math. If you bought the contaminated cilantro when it arrived at the store - let's say August 5 or probably, considerably later, and used it immediately, you may not get ill until early September. Maybe even October or November.

Enjoy your cilantro, but you may be wise to cook it lightly first if you are in a high risk group. And avoid fresh salsa when eating out, which I consider one of our riskiest foods (see my post for March 29, 2012 - "Salsa is one of the Riskiest Foods".

To your good health,

TSF

NO ILLNESSES REPORTED FROM THE FOOD

I am constantly irritated by a standard phrase in food recall notices "no illnesses have been reported to date," or, words to that effect.

It sounds so comforting, doesn't it? The reader of the recall is likely to think it just a false alarm. Or, assume that the pathogenic E.coli, Salmonella, Listeria or other bacteria (or, other kind of contaminant) are harmless in this case.

But these words are often misleading. They ignore the time delay for symptoms to occur and the fact that reports take a long time to reach and work their way through the government bureaucracy (not just the U.S. but every country: Remember the recent E.coli 0104 outbreak in Germany?). Yes, a piece of sharp metal or certain toxins in your lunch or dinner can affect you almost right away. But not so with most bacteria and other microbes.

Let's take an extreme case - the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, which has turned up in a whole range of ready-to-eat food items in the U.S. during the past ten days. In fact, it was a recent expansion of one of the recalls (the second expansion of three) which got me going on this topic. The products were made by Flying Food Group of Georgia for Starbucks, Core-mark and Race Trac, for distribution in Alabama, Georgia, Florida. This latest expansion now lists 40 ready-to-eat items such as sandwiches, parfaits, wraps, plates, and salads. The recall notice repeats twice - yes, twice, not just once - that no illnesses have been reported as yet.

Yes, the incubation period for Listeriosis (the disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes) can be as short as a few hours - in very rare instances. But usually it is around 12 days for any signs of illness to occur. And, it could take as long as 70 or even 90 days. Bureaucratic processing of illness reports (once recalls are out and doctors know what questions to ask the patient) and laboratory confirmation, often takes weeks. In fact, most instances of food poisoning are never linked up to a specific culprit food at all - ever. So, of course, there are no reports of illness as yet.

In other words, this is basically a meaningless statement unless the foods were eaten at least three months ago.

To your good health,
TSF

RECALL OF FOODS FOR STARBUCKS EXPANDED AGAIN

On July 19th, Flying Food Group of Georgia, recalled two kinds of ready-to-eat (RTE) products it had made for sale in Starbucks restaurants in Georgia and Alabama in the U.S. Testing had found Listeria monocytogenes bacteria.

On July 26th, the recall was expanded to include more Starbucks items as well as foods sold to Race Trac and Core Marc, Atlanta. Today, July 28, the recall was expanded again, to now include 40 RTE foods, 21 of them made for Starbucks (see also posts of July 25 and July 19). As the last "enjoy by" date is July 26, most likely the majority of these items have been eaten.

But those who ate them may just be starting to become ill. The symptoms of Listeriosis can reportedly take up to as long as 90 days to develop, but usually it's around 12. Therefore, if you ate at a Starbucks in Georgia or Alabama, and especially if you are pregnant of have a weakened immune system, you may want to try to recall what you ate, and call your doctor if you are worried. But remember - just because they are being recalled, does not mean that all were contaminated with Listeria.

Here's the latest Starbucks list.

• 6.6 ounce packages of “Egg Salad Sandwich” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 5.9 ounce package of “Chicken Chipotle” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 7.5 ounce package of “Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwich” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 5.0 ounce package of “Roma Tomato & Mozzarella” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 6.4 ounce package of “Turkey and Swiss Sandwich” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 5.5 ounce package of “Ham and Swiss” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 8.1 ounce package of “Strawberry and Blueberry Yogurt Parfait” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/16-7/27
• 8.1 ounce package of “Dark Cherry Yogurt Parfait” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/16-7/27
• 6.1 ounce package of “Greek Yogurt & Honey Parfait” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/16-7/27
• 8.3 ounce package of “Sesame Noodles Bistro Box” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15 – 7/26
• 5.3 ounce package of “Cheese & Fruit Bistro Box” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 6.8 ounce package of “Protein Bistro Box” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 5.9 ounce package of “Tuna Salad Plate Bistro Box” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 5.1 ounce package of “Hot Panini Roasted Tomato & Mozzarella” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 6.1 ounce package of “Hot Panini Roasted Vegetable” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 6.1 ounce package of “Hot Panini Chicken Santa Fe” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26
• 5.2 ounce package of “Hot Panini Ham & Swiss” that have “Enjoy By’ dates of 7/15-7/26
• 8.4 ounce package of “Chipotle Chicken Wraps Bistro Box” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/16-7/26*
• 6.3 ounce package of “Chicken & Hummus Bistro Box” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/16-7/26*
• 4.6 ounce package of “Salumi & Cheese Bistro Box” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26*
• 7.3 ounce package of “Chicken Lettuce Wraps Bistro Box” that have “Enjoy By” dates of 7/15-7/26*

To your good health,
TSF

STARBUCKS CHICKEN PRODUCT RECALL

Over the years, Starbucks has extended food and drink offerings way beyond all those wonderful varieties of coffee. This roaster and retailer of specialty coffee now operates in over 50 countries in the world. Share prices are up over 50% over the past year. But with an expanded menu also comes added risk. Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a recall of two of its menu items. The USDA/FSIS again found that nasty bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes, that keeps turning up in ready-to-eat food.

The items recalled are:

• 8.4-ounce packages of “STARBUCKS CHIPOTLE CHICKEN WRAPS Bistro Box”
• 6.3-ounce packages of “STARBUCKS CHICKEN & HUMMUS Bistro Box”

These ready-to-eat chicken products were produced for Starbucks by Flying Food Group, LLC, of Lawrenceville, Georgia on July 13, 2011. They were distributed to coffee shops in Georgia and Alabama. Most likely, they have already been eaten. No illnesses have been reported so far, but that's hardly surprising. The incubation period for Listeriosis (the illness caused by Listeria bacteria) can range from as little as 6 hours to 70 or even 90 days. But is usually around 12 days. In other words, not enough time has lapsed yet for people to get sick.

As stressed in The Safe Food Handbook pregnant women, people on corticosterioid therapy, and people with a compromised immune systems need to be aware of the extra risks involved in eating ready-to-eat foods and in eating out. Listeria bacteria are a common threat. Read the several earlier posts on Listeria in ready-to-eat foods and on how Listeriosis can be disastrous for pregnant women.

To your good health,
TSF

UPDATE: This recall has been expanded twice - July 26 and 28, to include additional products. See separate post.