CNAP ClipBoard: RE: “A recall was not requested because it is believed that the products are no longer available for consumers to purchase.”
- A recall still should have been executed, so that those who still have the product stored in their pantries or stores can return it without incident. Many smaller markets purchase from other stores and then just raise the price for convenience purposes, rather than buying wholesale, so they don’t have to buy by the case.
- Everyone who purchased the product, which could still be in play in some regions, must be considered when making general sweeping decisions, based on statistical probability rather than reality. Some people always get left out. No one, absent a recall, is going to know about this. Consumers don’t get updates from the USDA…I do, but I’m rare.
- Now, if somebody gets sick and you didn’t recall the product, that makes the DOA, USDA and FSIS legally responsible.
- One must begin to question why there are so maybe mislabeling mistakes on our food products. Who is doing the labeling? And why isn’t the labeling double checked? These labels need to be checked before they get to the USDA – at the manufacturing level. It seems like these companies are sidestepping their own verification process and making the USDA do it for them, hoping to slide by, to save themselves money. This is not acceptable.
- Does that mean we really don’t know what goes into our food? And why not? Because people who don’t share our standards do whatever they want or whatever is cheapest for them? Many people won’t be comfortable going forward into this decade knowing people who don’t share our health and sanitation concerns are the ones feeding us. Scary.
- Carso’s Pasta Company: I looked them up. It looks like they make pasta and sell all types of meats and cheeses in their pasta products. It looks like a small operation. How could they make such a mistake?
- On further inspection, they don’t even have Swedish Meatballs in Sauce on their website menu of products they sell. In fact, there is no mention of the mislabeled product to alert customers who have already purchased it. Why is that? And who looks at websites after a product is purchased?
- This is a small family-owned company. What happens in large companies halfway across the world, whose products end up in our pantries? Scary.
- A recall is always needed when the product is still in play. That way it gets to the attention of news outlets, who will at least get the alerts out locally and/or nationally if products are shipped nationally.
- It looks like the public isn’t being given the right information.
- It’s a good idea for all media cable and network news outlets to have a ticker tape of recalled food products on 24/7. The public often times is unaware till it’s too late and too many people got sick and/or died. It’s time to protect the consumer and stop finding loopholes for the offenders.
- How many people died because of bad product? There is no reliable figure, because other causes are always cited – to protect the offending parties from lawsuits. The government bends over backwards to provide this protection. What are we the Mafia? Yes.
From the Department of Agriculture – Food Safety and Inspection Service
FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Swedish Meatball Products Due to Misbranding and an Undeclared Allergen Congressional and Public Affairs Mitch Adams (202) 720-9113
FSISpress@usda.gov
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert because Carso’s Pasta Company, a Lynnwood, Wash. establishment, sold 636 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) Swedish meatball products that were misbranded.
The products contain anchovies (fish), which are not declared on the product label. A recall was not requested because it is believed that the products are no longer available for consumers to purchase.
The RTE Swedish meatball items were produced on various dates from Nov. 11, 2019 to Dec. 17, 2019. The following product is subject to the public health alert:
16-oz. plastic cups containing “CARSO’S PASTA CO. SWEDISH MEATBALLS IN SAUCE.” The product is labeled “KEEP FROZEN *MAY BE REFRIGERATED” and does not bear a use by or sell by date.The products subject to the public health alert bear establishment number “EST. 20790” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The products were shipped to four Amazon Go retail locations in Seattle, Wash.
The problem was discovered by FSIS during routine label verification activities.There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.
FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ freezers or refrigerators. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
Consumers and members of the media with questions about the public health alert can contact Dave Brown, President of Carso’s Pasta Company, at (425) 670-1302.
Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov.
For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.
AFC BULL MARKET KITCHEN™ FREEDOM ON A PLATE 