Australia reports a record high number of recalls between July of 2018 to June 2019

In its 2018-2019 Annual report, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) reported showed a record high of 106 incidents of recalls. This is the highest number of recalls in 12 months. The recalls were mainly due to undeclared allergens (35%), microbial contamination (32%), and foreign material (13%). This number of recalls compares to 81 recalls in the same period from 2017 to 2018 and 61 from 2016 to 2017. A strawberry tampering incident in September of 2018 was one of the most significant events of the year, involving sewing needles inserted into strawberries. FSANZ identified four cross-contamination causes of allergen-related recalls, including lack of skills and knowledge of labeling requirements, supplier verification, packaging errors and accidental cross-contamination. During 2018-19 fourteen issues were referred to the network, including Listeria in frozen vegetables from Belgium, Salmonella Enteritidis in eggs, and the strawberry tampering incident. @ https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/annualreport201819/Pages/default.aspx