In the news

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (“CFIA”) reports the updated recall of Orca Specialty Foods Ltd.(Surrey, British Columbia) One Ocean branded Sliced Smoked Wild Sockeye Salmon Fish products from the Canadian marketplace due to suspected Listeria monocytogenes contamination.  The products were distributed and sold in British Columbia. @ https://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/inspection/2021/74995r-eng.php

David Goldberg and his colleges at San Diego State University published an article on improving food safety by mining online customer posts (David M. Goldberg et al., Text Mining Approach for Post-Market Food Safety Monitoring Using Online Media, J.  Risk analysis, December 2020).  The research team proposes a new Food Safety Monitoring System that uses consumer comments posted on the website to identify products related to food illnesses and an AI technology called data mining. The team compiled an extensive data set of labeled consumer posts in two sites (Amazon.com and IWasPoisoned.com). The database consisted of 11,190 randomly selected Amazon reviews of “grocery and canned food” items purchased between 2000 and 2018, along with 8,596 reviews of food products posted on IWasPoisoned.com. Utilizing text mining and supervised machine learning, they identify unique words and phrases (such as “sick,” “vomiting,” “diarrhea,” “fever,” and “nausea”) related to food safety.  Two of the products flagged by the computers had already been previously recalled. Utilizing a data set of 4.4 million online reviews, the data were 77–90% accurate in top‐ranking reviews, while sentiment analysis was just 11–26% accurate. The model was combined with knowledge of higher-risk products to increase accuracy. @  https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13651

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (“CFIA”) reports that SYSCO Toronto recalled batch/lots of Casa Italia branded Soppressata Piccante Salami products from the Canadian marketplace. The recall is due to suspected spoilage and rancidity with significant risks of bacterial infection, severe illness and/or possible complications, all serious health hazards. The products involved are Casa Italia branded Soppressata Piccante Salami, sold in 0.524 kilogram packages, and Casa Italia branded Soppressata Piccante Salami, sold in 0.524 kilogram packages. These products were marketed, distributed, and sold in Ontario.  @ https://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/inspection/2021/74975r-eng.php

The FDA announced that Shenandoah Growers, Inc (Harrisonburg, VA), has issued a limited, voluntary recall of approximately 3240 branded fresh-cut units due to Cyclospora. The product was packaged organic basil clamshells packed at its Indianapolis, Indiana location. The potentially contaminated basil was grown in Colombia and was harvested entirely from Puerto Vallarta Herbs SAS (Farm) and imported by Vallarta Organics LLC dba Organic Destiny. Recalled products were distributed to select retail stores between 2/3/2021 to 2/4/2021 in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. This recall notification was issued due to a sample of the bulk product pulled at the port of entry in Miami and tested by the FDA as part of routine surveillance and indicated the potential presence of Cyclospora. No illnesses were reported. @ https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/shenandoah-growers-inc-issues-limited-voluntary-recall-specific-imported-organic-basil-because?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery