Three undeclared-allergen notices in about 24 hours — shrimp, egg, and egg again — and now Nestlé is on record saying European broadcaster reporting on its cereulide timeline was "inaccurate and misleading." Food Recall Watch, and Friday came in loud: a Whole Foods soup, a pancake mix, a Canadian E. coli update, and a formula toxin story that just picked up a corporate rebuttal. We’re keeping the confirmed recall notices separate from what Nestlé is now saying about the timeline. Those are not the same thing, and we’re not going to blur them. Give me the brand name and the lot codes on that pancake mix first. If somebody mixed a batch at seven this morning, I want the exact box before we say anything else. From Food Safety News:
Kettle Cuisine of Lynn, MA, is recalling 24-ounce cups of Whole Foods Market Kitchen Minestrone Soup which may contain undeclared shrimp. People who have allergies to crustacean shellfish, including shrimp, run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume this product.
Kettle Cuisine, out of Lynn, Massachusetts, is recalling 24-ounce cups of Whole Foods Market Kitchen Minestrone Soup. The issue is undeclared shrimp — a crustacean shellfish allergen — after an in-store discovery that a cup had the wrong product in it. Food Safety News posted the notice on May 21st. Minestrone. Somebody picked up soup they thought was vegetable, and it had shrimp in it because the cup got filled with the wrong product on the line. Whole Foods shoppers expect that private-label stuff to be checked twice. So, yeah — which stores, which regions, and is that cup still in somebody’s refrigerator right now? And this makes the third undeclared-allergen notice in roughly 24 hours — we had undeclared egg twice earlier this week, and now undeclared shellfish from a totally different manufacturer and retailer. That’s a pattern, not a shrug-and-move-on situation. Egg twice, now shrimp — three different allergen communities missed in one news cycle. If you have a shellfish allergy and you buy Whole Foods prepared soups, the 24-ounce Minestrone cup is the one to pull and check right now. From Food Safety News:
Hometown Food Company, in cooperation with Element Food Solutions, is recalling recall of a single lot code of its Birch Benders 12-ounce Sweet Potato Pancake Mix because it may contain undeclared egg. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to egg run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume these products.
Birch Benders Sweet Potato Pancake Mix, 12-ounce size, one lot code — Hometown Food Company and Element Food Solutions filed this recall on May 21st with Food Safety News. It’s undeclared egg, and it was distributed nationwide through grocery stores, natural food retailers, and online. Birch Benders sells itself as the cleaner-label pancake mix. That’s exactly the kind of box a parent with an egg allergy buys because they think they’ve already done the homework. So we need that lot code on the air before anybody opens one this weekend. And just to say it cleanly: this is the third undeclared-allergen notice in about 24 hours — two egg recalls, including the Hannaford ciabatta rolls earlier this week, and now a shellfish miss with the Whole Foods soup. Three different manufacturers, three different retailers, same failure mode. Pancake mix is a seven-a.m. autopilot buy — nobody rereads the ingredients on the box they’ve bought a dozen times. And "nationwide through online channels" means there may be a lot code that never sat under a shelf tag. If the FDA notice doesn’t have the code, that’s the question. From Food Safety News:
Micro Verdure brand microgreens are being recalled in Canada because of pathogenic E. coli. This recall was triggered by the company, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The recalled products were distributed in Quebec. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.
Closing the loop on the Canada microgreens thread: the CFIA recall notice is live and current as of yesterday. Micro Verdure brand, E. coli, distribution confirmed in Quebec. The expansion into Ontario and Farm Boy and Kyan Culture best-befores through May 22nd that we flagged Tuesday is now resolved; this is the official notice. So the best-before date is today. If you’ve got Micro Verdure microgreens in your fridge right now, that answers the question — you toss them. And since this was a company-triggered recall, I want to know whether anyone who bought these online got a direct notification, or if they’re just hoping people check the CFIA page. Emma Borg, writing in Times of Malta:
Despite the recall of several infant formula products over potential contamination concerns, the local distributor has said there is no cause for concern about shortages on the local market. Health authorities on Saturday issued warnings about 11 different infant formula products after becoming aware that some batches could contain a toxin known as cereulide, which can cause food poisoning symptoms.
Malta update on the cereulide formula story: health authorities have recalled 11 products across Cow & Gate, Aptamil, and Bebelac — all three distributed locally by a company called Permix — and Permix is now saying alternative batches are already on shelf and more are coming in, so no shortage is expected. The Permix spokesperson also said, and I’m not paraphrasing much here, that it’s "a precaution" because the products have been on the market nine months and "nothing has happened." That’s a distributor doing safety communication now. I want to know whether that nine-month timeline actually matches what the recall notice says about when the contamination risk was identified. That’s the line to hold: the recall scope is eleven named batches with a confirmed cereulide concern, and whether replacement product is on shelf is a separate question from whether those batches are fully off shelf. Permix says they’re being exchanged, but "being exchanged" is a process, not a completed action. Just Food, with Dean Best:
Nestlé has labelled fresh claims in Europe about the company’s recall of infant formula earlier this year “inaccurate and misleading”. Three public broadcasters in Europe said the Swiss giant was slow to inform authorities about the presence of the cereulide toxin in its formula and quietly pulled products before making an official recall.
The Nestlé cereulide story now has its first named corporate rebuttal. Three European public broadcasters — Radio France among them — reported that Nestlé was slow to notify authorities and quietly pulled product before any official recall. Nestlé is now calling those claims "inaccurate and misleading." What the confirmed recall record shows is separate from that dispute: toxin detected at the Dutch factory at the end of November, local authorities notified ten days later, first official recall notice for Nan stage 1 in December, global expansion in early January across more than 60 markets. Ten days between detection and telling authorities — Nestlé put that date on record themselves back in January. So when they call the broadcasters’ timeline "inaccurate and misleading," I want to know exactly which part they’re disputing, because the ten-day gap is their own number. That’s the bright line here. The recall notice is documented. The end-of-November detection date is Nestlé’s own statement. Whether the broadcasters described those ten days correctly — that’s the dispute. Those are two different things, and PR works best when people mix them up. And meanwhile Malta’s distributor is saying no shortages are expected and alternatives are on the local market. That’s a supply-chain update, not a safety update. A parent trying to figure out whether their batch number was in the December pull or the January global expansion gets exactly zero help from "don’t worry, shelves are stocked." If Food Recall Watch helps you stay informed, take a moment to subscribe and leave a quick review wherever you’re listening. It really helps other people find the show and keep up with important recall news.
We’ve put links to every recall and source we mentioned in today’s show notes, so if one applies to your kitchen, take a minute to read the details there.
That’s Food Recall Watch for today. Have a safe weekend, and we’ll be back with the next update. This is a Lantern Podcast.