Beef kofta samples from a restaurant chain just matched the live E. coli outbreak strain — and unlike everything else we've covered this week, there isn't a lot code to check. I'm Cassidy, and this is Food Recall Watch for Wednesday, June third. We’ve got a restaurant outbreak confirmation, two undeclared allergen recalls in one day, and a Salmonella flag on coffee powder out of New York. Brian here — and two of today's allergen recalls have names that tell an allergic shopper basically nothing about what's inside. We'll start with The Kebab Shop kofta, because that changes what you do next — then we'll move through the freezer and pantry items. Food Safety News, with Coral Beach:
Whole genome sequencing has shown that beef kofta samples collected by FSIS and produced at Olympia Food Industries matches the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 among patrons of The Kebab Shop restaurant in California.
The Kebab Shop beef kofta matched E. coli O157:H7 by whole genome sequencing. FSIS collected samples from Olympia Food Industries, the producer, and those samples came back positive for the outbreak strain. As of June 1, there are nine confirmed patients, six of them children, and two of those kids have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome. And this is the first restaurant match all week — every prior story had a lot code you could check, a bag you could pull from the freezer. This one doesn't give you that. If you ate kofta at The Kebab Shop in California recently, there's no package to inspect. Right — here, the move is not check your pantry, it's watch for symptoms: bloody diarrhea, severe stomach cramps, and, with HUS in play for kids specifically, get medical attention early. FSIS and California DPH are still coordinating, so the FDA.gov FSIS page is where to watch for any formal recall notice. Six of nine patients are children. That is who's at the table here, and HUS in a kid is a kidney emergency. The Kebab Shop is a California chain, so if you're in that state and you've been there in the last few weeks, this is a call-your-doctor situation, not a wait-and-see one. The National Provisioner writes:
Synear Foods USA LLC, a Chatsworth, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately 71,603 pounds of frozen not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) pork and crab soup dumpling products due to misbranding and undeclared allergens. The product contains peanut, a known allergen, which is not declared on the product label.
Synear Foods USA, out of Chatsworth, California — the pork-and-crab soup dumpling recall is back with the full confirmed weight: 71,603 pounds, which closes the number that was floating earlier in the week. There are two package formats, five best-by dates from October 2026 through February 2027, and establishment number EST. 45942 inside the USDA mark. It was distributed in California, New Jersey, and Washington, with export to Canada. And now we know how the peanut got caught: FSIS inspection personnel were doing a routine allergen verification task at the facility. Not a consumer complaint, not a hospital report — a floor inspector doing their job. Credit where it's due, but that peanut was already in 71,000 pounds of dumplings before anyone flagged it. The 71,603-pound figure also clears up the earlier discrepancy. June 1 had it at 71,097, June 2 corrected upward, and today's National Provisioner story lands on 71,603, so that's the number. Here's what's nagging at me: pork and crab soup dumplings gives a peanut-allergic shopper zero warning. Same trap as Birch Benders Sweet Potato Pancake Mix hiding undeclared egg — the product name is doing nothing to signal the allergen. That's twice in one day. From Prevention:
On May 29, Champion Foods announced a recall of Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread due to possible salmonella contamination. According to the company, this move comes after California Dairies, Inc. recalled a separately manufactured milk powder, used in the product’s cheese blend.
Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread — Champion Foods recall, May 29, Salmonella risk tied to California Dairies milk powder in the cheese blend. Costco, Target, and Walmart are the named retailers. If you want the actual lot codes, the FDA.gov Champion Foods entry is where to go, not this Prevention summary. We walked the full upstream chain on June 2, and that entry is still live. Costco, Target, Walmart — that's the answer I was asking for two days ago. That's the list. Now go check your freezer. Two things to note: the company says no illnesses have been reported, and pre-production testing came back negative — but they're recalling anyway because the milk powder is the upstream trigger, not a positive test on the finished product. That's a precautionary pull, not a contamination confirmation. I'll take a precautionary pull with three retailer names over a confirmed outbreak with zero geography any day. Prevention still doesn't print the lot codes in the excerpt, so FDA.gov it is — don't stop at the magazine. This one's from Prescott Valley Times:
Hometown Food Company, in cooperation with Element Food Solutions, today initiated a limited, voluntary recall of a single lot code of its Birch Benders 12oz 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 reaction if they consume these products.
Allergen recall number two today: Hometown Food Company, working with Element Food Solutions, is pulling a single lot of Birch Benders 12-ounce Sweet Potato Pancake and Waffle Mix for undeclared egg. The lot to check is 5 265, best-if-used-by March 24, 2027 — distributed nationwide through grocery, natural food retailers, and online. Sweet potato pancake mix. An egg-allergic shopper sees sweet potato, sees pancake, and reasonably assumes they're checking for wheat and maybe dairy — egg doesn't even register as the threat. That's the same name-mismatch trap we hit with Synear soup dumplings earlier this week, and now we've got two undeclared-allergen misses in a single day. Two separate companies, two different allergens — peanut in the dumplings, egg here — and in both cases the product name gives the allergic shopper exactly zero signal. Lot 5 265, MAR 24 2027, is the only affected run; everything else in the Birch Benders line is clear. Check your pantry right now if you buy this brand — and honestly, if you bought any pancake mix this spring from a natural foods channel, double-check the label anyway, because this week is making a pretty clear case that the front of the bag isn't telling the whole story. Patch, with Miranda Levingston:
A potential Salmonella contamination has led to a recall of latte and cappuccino powder in New York and New Jersey, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The coffee powders, from the company SKS Copack, have been removed from stores after the company learned of a potential Salmonella contamination.
SKS Copack recall, FDA notice, posted June 1. This one is geographically specific: New York and New Jersey, and it covers latte and cappuccino powders sold under two brand names, Royal Gold and Angel Specialty Products. Three products are named: Royal Gold French Vanilla Cappuccino, item code CFC1000, 105 cases; Royal Gold Dutch Mocha Cappuccino, item code CFC2000, eight cases; and Angel Caramel Latte powder, item code AMZN3001, 33 cases. The contamination flag came from state-level sampling, not a consumer complaint. And that's exactly the format I've been asking for all week — named state, named agency, specific item codes. Compare that to the milk-powder supply chain stories from earlier this week, where we were told sold in certain regions and left to guess. SKS Copack, Royal Gold, Angel, New York and New Jersey — that's a shopper-usable sentence. This is also the first beverage powder outside the California Dairies chain to surface this week — different product category, different establishment, same pathogen. If you're in the New York or New Jersey area and you've bought a Royal Gold or Angel-branded cappuccino or latte mix recently, those item codes are what to check. If Food Recall Watch helps you stay a little more prepared, please subscribe and leave a quick review wherever you're listening. It really helps other people find the show and keep up with recalls that matter.
If you want to follow up on anything we covered today, you'll find links to every story in the show notes. Take a look there for the details that matter most to you.
That's Food Recall Watch for this Wednesday. This is a Lantern Podcast.