Food recalls
Food recalls in April 2020
The FDA listed 36 food recalls in its April 2020 Enforcement Reports, 11 fewer than in March 2020 (47) and 3 more than in April 2019 (33). 11 were Class I, the most serious kind. The most common reason was allergen not on the label (12).
Food recalls
36
Reports through April 29, 2020
Class I, the most serious
11
Could cause serious harm or death
March 2020
47
33 in April 2019
Every food recall in April 2020
Newest first, by the date of the weekly FDA Enforcement Report that first listed it. FDA's own words are in quotes.
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Class I (most serious)
Champlain Chocolate Company (Williston, VT): Lake Champlain CHOCOLATES, COIN DARK BULK ORG
Allergen not on the label. “Product contains undeclared milk.”
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Class I (most serious)
H & C Food Inc. (Brooklyn, NY): Enoki Mushroom
Listeria. “Product is potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.”
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Class I (most serious)
Mountain Rose Inc. dba Mountain Rose Herbs (Eugene, OR): Kudzu Root (Pueraria montana var
Salmonella. “Salmonella”
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Class II
DSD Merchandisers, Inc. (Livermore, CA): Roasted/Salted Deluxe Mixed Nuts
Allergen not on the label. “Firm discovered that peanuts were included in mixed nut mix but not declared in labeling.”
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Class III (least serious)
CT Health Solutions, LLC (Homosassa, FL): We Like Vitamins, Lycopene 50 mg, Dietary Supplement
Other ingredient not on the label (sulfites, dyes...). “Due to different color of powder in capsules. Firm's evaluation determined product low potency.”
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Class III (least serious)
DANA USA Corp. (Miami, FL): Sunshine Spice DRIED SHRI SKIN TRI TRI, Weight (lb) 0.215 (2 products)
Other ingredient not on the label (sulfites, dyes...). “Undeclared sulfites in product label.”
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Class I (most serious)
MIN JIANG FOOD STORE INC DBA KOI KOI TRADING (Montebello, CA): Fresh Salmon
Listeria. “Salmon has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.”
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Class I (most serious)
Winter Gardens Quality Foods, Inc. (New Oxford, PA): Whole Foods Vodka Sauce
Allergen not on the label. “The product is being recalled for undeclared allergen (Milk).”
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Class II
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Potential metal contamination in one lot of frozen lasagna.”
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Class II
“Gluten-Free lentils product tested positive for gluten and some pouches were found to contain barley, wheat, and possibly other gluten-containing grains.”
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Class II
Health Harvest, LLC (Mesa, AZ): Audrey's Chia Cookies Chocolate Chip (4 products)
Allergen not on the label. “Labeling with undeclared milk allergen”
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Class II
Lindt & Sprungli (USA), Inc. (Stratham, NH): Lindt & Sprungli (USA), Inc.
Allergen not on the label. “Chocolate contains undeclared milk and soy”
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Class II
The Kroger Co (Cincinnati, OH): PRIVATE SELECTION FROZEN BLACKBERRIES in 16 oz (2 products)
Other germs or toxins (botulism, hepatitis A, mold...). “Potential norovirus contamination.”
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Class I (most serious)
Forest Mushroom Food Inc. (Commerce, CA): Guan's Enoki Mushrooms
Listeria. “California Department of Public Health collected samples at retail and found Listeria monocytogenes in Enoki mushrooms from Korea”
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Class I (most serious)
New Capstone, Inc (Mooresville, NC): ReStructure VANILLA PROTEIN POWDER NET WT
Allergen not on the label. “The firm was notified that the labeling does not include the word milk on the ingredient statement”
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Class I (most serious)
Tiffany Food Corp. (Brooklyn, NY): HUANGFUSHANZHEN
Other ingredient not on the label (sulfites, dyes...). “Product contains undeclared sulfites.”
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Class II
Other germs or toxins (botulism, hepatitis A, mold...). “Firm testing found Vibrio parahaemolyticus in cooked butterfly shrimp from Thailand.”
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Class II
Driscoll's Inc. (Watsonville, CA): Driscoll's Blackberries
“Testing found Acephate of 2.8ppm on fresh blackberries. There is no US MRL for Acephate on blackberries.”
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Class II
Mcclancy Seasoning Company (Fort Mill, SC): Case Label
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “The firm was notified by their rice supplier that the product contains blue plastic slivers.”
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Class II
Meijer Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI): Meijer Mixed Nuts with Peanuts & Sea Salt 16 Oz UPC
Other ingredient not on the label (sulfites, dyes...). “undeclared brazil nuts”
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Class II
Allergen not on the label. “The firm initiated a recall on 03/13/20 of frozen oven-safe Cook-in-bag Salmon for undeclared wheat”
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Class II
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared peanut and milk allergens”
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Class III (least serious)
Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems. “Customer reports of label error. Front panel states strength of 1000 mg although supplement fact is correct in stating 1000 mcg.”
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Class III (least serious)
Allergen not on the label. “Products contain undeclared soy protein isolate.”
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Class I (most serious)
Hong Bin Foods LLC (Montebello, CA): Enoki Mushroom
Listeria. “State of Michigan sampled and tested Enoki Mushrooms and found them to be positive for Listeria monocytogenes.”
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Class I (most serious)
International Sprout Holding Inc. (Cookeville, TN): Clover seed in 50 lb (2 products)
E. coli. “Possible contamination with E. Coli.”
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Class I (most serious)
Allergen not on the label. “Contains undeclared milk”
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Class II
Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems. “Product is improperly labeled with gluten-free claim.”
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Class II
“Product tested positive for patulin in excess of 50 ppb”
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Class II
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Laser on processing line found foreign material during the processing of raisins.”
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Class II
Other ingredient not on the label (sulfites, dyes...). “Undeclared yellow # 5 and blue # 1”
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Class II
Proxy Foods LLC (Portland, OR): Green Pozole Soup Starter, Pozole To The People (3 products)
Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems. “Missing processing records/production logs.”
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Class II
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared allergen: Wheat Undeclared colors: Yellow #5 and #6.”
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Class II
Other germs or toxins (botulism, hepatitis A, mold...). “The product was found to be adulterated with Norovirus.”
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Class III (least serious)
Allergen not on the label. “The firm was notified by their customer that the product contains Chicken Nuggets instead of Fish Nuggets”
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Class III (least serious)
Organic By Nature, Inc. (Rancho Dominguez, CA): Pure Planet Organic Parasite Cleanse (14 products)
Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems. “Firm was notified by supplier that Organic Ground Flaxseed powder was under recall by manufacturer due to unapproved herbicide - Haloxyfop”
Why food was recalled in April 2020
Chartly groups FDA's written reasons by their key words; each recall counts once, under its first matching reason.
| Reason | Recalls |
|---|---|
| Allergen not on the label | 12 |
| Other ingredient not on the label (sulfites, dyes...) | 5 |
| Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems | 4 |
| Listeria | 4 |
| Metal, plastic, glass or other objects | 3 |
| Other germs or toxins (botulism, hepatitis A, mold...) | 3 |
| E. coli | 1 |
| Salmonella | 1 |
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Source and notes
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Enforcement Reports (openFDA food recall data) (Public domain (U.S. government work); source U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA), data as of April 29, 2020.
Each week the FDA lists the recalls it has classified in its Enforcement Report, often weeks after the company announced the recall, so a month with five weekly reports tends to count more. Each recall counts once, however many products it covers, in the month FDA first listed it. Class I means the food could cause serious harm or death, Class II temporary or minor harm, and Class III is unlikely to harm anyone. Meat, poultry and most egg products are recalled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, not the FDA, and aren't included. For what to do with a recalled product, see the FDA's recalls page.