Botulism-recall foods still on sale - One contaminated item found in Oakland grocery store
- From: rst0wxyz <rst0wxyz@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 12:22:33 -0700
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_6487447?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
Botulism-recall foods still on sale
One contaminated item found in Oakland grocery store
, FROM STAFF WRITER AND WIRE REPORTS
Article Last Updated: 07/28/2007 02:28:37 AM PDT
OAKLAND - Stores here and nationwide continue to sell recalled canned
chili, stew, hash and other foods potentially contaminated with
poisonous bacteria, despite repeated warnings that the products could
kill.
Last week Castleberry's Food Co. began recalling more than 90
potentially contaminated products over fears of botulism
contamination, and thousands of cans are being removed from store
shelves as quickly as investigators find them.
The recall now covers two years' production at the company's Augusta,
Ga., plant - a tally that spirals into the tens of millions of cans.
Spot checks by the Food and Drug Administration and state officials
from Florida to Alaska continue to turn up recalled products for sale
in convenience stores, gas stations and family- run groceries. The FDA
alone has found them in roughly 250 of the more than 3,700 stores
visited in nationwide checks.
A random check by The Argus found recalled products in a small East
Oakland grocery.
In Southern California, health officials were investigating Friday
whether botulism confirmed in a San Diego County woman was linked to
the recall. The woman reported eating a Castleberry's product before
falling sick in early July.
Four people, not including the San Diego woman, have sickened and
beenhospitalized because of the contaminated food, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials fear the tally
will grow.
"Frankly, the fact we have had only four illnesses in this situation
has people saying, 'Well, what is the big deal?' The deal is this is
something that can land you in the ICU (intensive care unit), not
being able to breathe, for weeks," said Dr. David Acheson, the FDA's
lead food safety expert, before Friday's disclosure of the possible
California case.
Also on Friday, Bloomberg News Service reported that Castleberry's
parent corporation, Bumble Bee Foods LLC of San Diego, will be
investigated by two committees of Congress since the company recalled
food because four people contracted botulism.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce as well as the Subcommittee
on Oversight and Investigations sent a letter to Bumble Bee Chief
Executive Officer Christopher Lischewski announcing the probe,
according to an e-mailed letter from Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan
Democrat.
A spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
FDA investigators believe Castleberry's failed to properly cook some
or all the products, allowing Clostridium botulinum bacteria to
survive the canning process. In the oxygen-free and moist environment
of the sealed cans, the bacteria thrive and produce a toxin that
causes botulism, a muscle-paralyzing disease.
"The longer this stuff stays in the can, the worse it gets," Acheson
said.
The bacteria also produce gases that can cause contaminated cans to
swell and burst. Already, cans being stored in a company warehouse
have begun to break open. Health officials say the extremely potent
toxin can infect people if inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through the
eye or breaks in the skin.
Health experts consider botulism a severe health threat but worry that
word of the recall has not reached all consumers or retailers,
especially mom-and-pop operations.
At the Grocery Outlet discount grocery store on Broadway in Oakland,
only one Castleberry product was on the shelves Friday after it was
cleared by state food officials and found not to be on the extensive
recall list.
"The only Castleberry thing we have is the 24-ounce can of the beef
stew. But that wasn't recalled," said store manager Petty Randall.
"The 15-ounce can is the bad batch, and we never had any of that."
Many of the large grocery chains in California do not carry
Castleberry products. Safeway stores do not carry any of the recalled
items, a spokeswoman said.
A spot check of six smaller stores in East Oakland found recalled cans
in one store, a Shop Rite off Foothill Boulevard. That store had only
one product on the recall list, the 15-ounce can of Castleberry's beef
stew. The product was removed from shelves Friday night. Store manager
Bill McClendon said he never heard about the recall.
"The warehouse is supposed to notify us," he said.
Castleberry's has hired a company to collect the recalled products
from stores. It has posted a complete list of the recalled products,
including some dog foods, on its Web site: http://www.castleberrys.com.
People who have any of the recalled products at home should double-bag
and throw them away, the FDA recommends.
Wire services and staff writers Angela Hill and Douglas Fischer
contributed to this report.
.
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