Undeclared Allergens Account for Over Half of Q1 Food Recalls
World Health Day is observed annually, but this year hits especially close to home for all of us here at Food Safety Magazine. That’s because on this day--April 7, 2015--the World Health Organization (WHO) is advocating for food safety, calling on producers, policy makers and consumers to promote food safety today and every day.
Why is Food Safety So Important?
The prevalence of foodborne illness across the globe is undeniable, which is why it’s been chosen as this year’s focus for World Health Day. The facts, according to WHO, are alarming. More than 200 diseases are spread through food, and an estimated 1.5 million children die each year as a result of consuming unsafe food. WHO categorizes “unsafe food” as items that contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances. While proper food preparation can help to prevent a good portion of foodborne diseases, some types of contamination are not only unpredictable, but unavoidable--particularly once it reaches the hands of the consumer.
To illustrate this point, Food Safety Magazine tracked food recalls announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) from January 1, 2015 through March 31, 2015. We tallied 197 individual recalls--a handful of them stemming from a single contaminated item. For example, a single batch or shipment of contaminated meat could prompt multiple recalls at various regional or national distributors and retailers.
Types of Contamination
What food safety essentially boils down to is the few dangerous hazards that can lead to foodborne illness or even death, commonly culminating in a food recall. These dangers typically fall into at least one of three categories--chemical, microbiological or physical.
Chemical food contamination--Chemical contamination is exactly what it sounds like--elements such as dioxins, radionuclides and even disinfectants and sanitizers that pose health risks when exposed to food. Chemical contaminants can also include allergenic proteins that wreak havoc with certain food-allergic individuals. Chemicals can also enter food by way of certain cooking or heating methods. The recalls reviewed showed no signs of recalls linked to any type of chemical contamination.
Microbiological food contamination--Microbiological contamination is extremely common, appearing to trigger some of the most widespread and in some cases lethal recalls year to date. Usually caused by bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella or Staphylococcus, all sorts of microbiological contaminations were present in food recalls reported during the first quarter. Examples:
In January, an apple packing facility in Bakersfield, CA found Granny Smith and Gala apples to be contaminated with Listeria. The discovery led to multiple recalls of prepackaged caramel apples at a variety of distributors. Although the outbreak is believed to be over, the effects were devastating--35 cases in 12 states lead to 34 hospitalizations and seven deaths.
Last month, a very well-known national brand suffered its first recall after 108 years in business. Various ice cream products made by Blue Bell were found to be the cause of a Listeriosis outbreak in March. An investigation determined that the outbreak was linked to milkshakes made with Blue Bell ice cream served at a single hospital in Kansas after five victims--all of whom were admitted into the hospital for separate, unrelated reasons--all became infected. Three of those patients lost their lives. As of April 5, the Oklahoma plant where the ice cream was made has been temporarily shut down.
Also occurring in March was another microbiological food recall involving spinach--organic, frozen and dip varieties--due to a possible Listeria. The products were distributed at major retailers including Costco, Target, Wegmans. To date, there have been no reports of illness.
Physical food contamination--Physical contamination is when an object makes its way into the food that was not intended to be there. Perhaps the most high profile example of this occurred last month when Kraft Foods Group--one of the top 10 food companies in the world--announced a voluntary recall of 242,000 cases of its Original Macaroni & Cheese Box Dinners because they may contain small pieces of metal. The recall made waves across the U.S. since Kraft--and it’s signature boxed pasta--has been a staple in American homes for decades.
Taking a step back from some of last quarter’s most prevalent recalls, let’s take a closer look at pinpointing how food safety went wrong.
Common Culprit--Undeclared Allergens - 57 percent of recalls
Of the 197 recalls we looked at, 114 referenced at least one undeclared allergen. Some were far more common than others.