Watch for food safety recalls

#MiddleburyCT #Seniors #Covid

The website for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a good place to watch for recalls and alerts. Right now they have notices about potato soup, clam chowder, frozen turkey sausage patties, and beef strips – all for a variety of reasons such as undeclared allergens, temperature mismanagement, packaging in unsanitary conditions, etc.

But the concerns aren’t just with food we select at the store; sometimes it’s food that’s delivered to us. New on the FSIS recall page is an alert for ready-to-cook meatloaf because it has an undeclared allergen in it, specifically milk.

The fine print says they didn’t ask for a recall because the products aren’t available for purchase. Hmm … what about people who might have those items in their freezer? This particular meatloaf was sent to groups that deliver at-home meals to seniors and the food therefore does not have an ingredient label on it.

For more information on these recalls or to sign up for email notices, go to www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls. And if you ever have questions about food safety, you can call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854).

Food Manufacturing is another good site to watch for up-to-the-minute recall and alert information (www.foodmanufacturing.com/recalls-alerts). While they’re not part of the government, they do cover all types of food information. Scroll to the bottom to sign up for email alerts from them.

The Food and Drug Administration (fda.gov) is another site worth watching. Scroll down their page for recalls and alerts on a variety of items, such as food, medical devices, vaccines, drugs and cosmetics. Today their list includes salmonella in flour, sesame in premade sandwiches, eggs in yogurt and listeria in salad kits.

Makes you hesitant to eat anything we buy in a store, doesn’t it? Signing up for email alerts might be a good idea.

© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.