In the news

The FDA announced on its website that Whole Foods Market stores in the Northeast and North Atlantic regions are voluntarily recalling Dorset cheese because of potential contamination of Listeria monocytogenes in response to recall from Consider Bardwell Farm. The affected product was sold at Whole Foods Market stores in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. The affected product was cut and wrapped in plastic with a Whole Foods Market scale label with sell-by dates through 10/30/2019. No illnesses have been reported to date. @ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/dorset-cheese-voluntarily-recalled-north-atlantic-and-northeast-whole-foods-market-stores-due?utm_campaign=Dorset%20Cheese%20Voluntarily%20Recalled%20by%20North%20Atlantic%20and%20Northeast%20Whole%20Foods%20Market%20Stores&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

Late last week CFIA announced the recall of Metro Ontario Inc. deli trays for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The recall was related to an earlier recall of Brandt sausage for similar suspected contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. This recall has been updated to include additional product information. This additional information was identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) food safety investigation. Various imported cooked diced chicken meat products are recalled from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. CFIA mentioned Reuven International Ltd., Tip Top Poultry, Sysco Co., Flamingo, Rosemont Sales & Marketing, Centennial FoodService, AlimPlus Inc. and Glacial Treasure for recalling a variety of sizes of diced chicken and other poultry products sold across Canada.  @ https://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-09-30/eng/1569881043496/1569881049546

The FDA announced on their website that Consider Bardwell Farm, LLC of West Pawlet, Vermont, recalled three kinds of cheese: Dorset, Slyboro, and Experience, distributed in CA, MA, NY, TX, VT, due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.  No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with these products. The contamination was discovered by routine testing of finished products and the manufacturing environment. @ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/consider-bardwell-farm-recalls-dorset-slyboro-and-experience-because-possible-health-risk?utm_campaign=Consider%20Bardwell%20Farm%20Recalls%20Dorset%2C%20Slyboro%2C%20and%20Experience%20Because%20of%20Possible%20Health%20Risk&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

The FDA announced that it had established a dashboard where we will publish metrics relating to the implementation of the FSMA law. It is a way to measure progress and update the status to ensure transparency to the public. The FDA found that since 2016, the majority of companies inspected complied with the new requirements of the preventive control rules. The data also shows that the industry has improved the time from identifying a recall event to initiating a voluntary recall, from an average of four days in 2016 to approximately two days in 2019. Additionally, food recalls once again have reached a five year low. The data will help the FDA to identify trends in food safety, continue to improve our risk-based food safety framework and modernize the agency’s food safety approaches. The FDA plans to update the data for the first implemented FSMA rules quarterly, with the goal and ultimately publish metrics for all seven rules. @ https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/statement-measuring-progress-being-made-through-implementing-fda-food-safety-modernization-act?utm_campaign=093019_Statement_FDA%20releases%20performance%20measures%20for%20three%20FSMA%20rules&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua