CRF Frozen Foods Expands Voluntary Recall, From 15 to 358 products!

Don't usually post recalls but because this is so all encompassing and the foods so common that most of us have them in our freezers, I felt this warranted getting the word out. Previously only 15 items had been recalled. This has now been expanded to 358 frozen products. That's MASSIVE!
Like many of you I began scrolling the list saying to myself, I've never even seen these brands, but low and behold further down were my local brands, some of which will be going back to the store tomorrow for my refund.

Not being alarmist, just a fast heads up to people who never check other forums here.



Listeria is nothing to mess with, the onset of symptoms is delayed 11 or more days so some folks may have thought they caught the creeping crud from their kids at school, or a mild case of the flu. In reality it may have been that dinner you had almost two weeks ago.
www.foodpoisonjournal.com...

CRF Frozen Foods LLC expanded the recall, first issued last month, to cover 358 products sold under 42 brands, including products sold at Costco Co., Trader Joe's, Safeway and Walmart under brands including Bybee's, Columbia River, O Organic, Organic By Nature and Wild Oats.

The initial recall in late April covered 15 frozen vegetable products and halted operations at CRF's plant in Pasco, Wash.

The new recall includes frozen foods ranging from broccoli to sweet potatoes to blueberries, all of which "have the potential to be contaminated," according to a company statement.

www.denverpost.com...

Press release 5/2/2016

This expanded recall of frozen vegetables includes all of the frozen organic and traditional fruit and vegetable products manufactured or processed in CRF Frozen Foods' Pasco facility since May 1, 2014. All affected products have the best by dates or sell by dates between April 26, 2016 and April 26, 2018. These include approximately 358 consumer products sold under 42 separate brands, the details of which are listed below. Products include organic and non-organic broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower, corn, edamame, green beans, Italian beans, kale, leeks, lima beans, onions, peas, pepper strips, potatoes, potato medley, root medley, spinach, sweet potatoes, various vegetable medleys, blends, and stir fry packages, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, peaches, raspberries, and strawberries. For a complete list of affected products, see below.

www.fda.gov...://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm498841.htm

a reply to: Caver78

The FDA link does not work, for me.

Is there another link with a complete list?

Glad I don't eat vegetables......

FDA Info

This expanded recall of frozen vegetables includes all of the frozen organic and traditional fruit and vegetable products manufactured or processed in CRF Frozen Foods' Pasco facility since May 1, 2014. All affected products have the best by dates or sell by dates between April 26, 2016 and April 26, 2018. .

Even tuna isn't safe.

Canned tuna Product may be contaminated by spoilage organisms or pathogens, which could lead to life-threatening illness if consumed Bumble Bee Foods, LLC

All Recalls

a reply to: dreamingawake

Are those the dates on the bad Bumblebee Tuna, too?

Sigh.

a reply to: Caver78

WOW, This recall list is massive. It isn't just CFR frozen foods. Snack foods from 7-11, CVS, Tops, Walmart, Aldis, Meijer, Kroger, Costco, Publix and more Have Been Recalled Over Listeria.

Snackers, beware packaged snacks have been recalled due to food safety concerns.
www.prnewswire.com...

Sad news

originally posted by: BO XIAN
a reply to: dreamingawake

Are those the dates on the bad Bumblebee Tuna, too?

Sigh.

See the date according to the UPC labels: From the All recalls List

The curious thing about the frozen vegetables is that I would assume (although I know little about listeria) that it would be easily killed by steam. I would also assume most people are going to cook these vegetables before they eat them. Never heard of anyone just thawing out frozen vegetables and eating them raw.

a reply to: BrianFlanders

Good point. Only you have to hold the steam at 15- 30 minutes to kill things in there

But conventional wisdom says freezing for more than three days kills everything in there as well. So maybe lystiria must be one hell of a creature. Wikapidia says.:

Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium, in the division Firmicutes, named after Joseph Lister. Its ability to grow at temperatures as low as 0 °C permits multiplication at typical refrigeration temperatures, greatly increasing its ability to evade control in human foodstuffs. Motile via flagella at 30 °C and below, but usually not at 37 °C,[4] L. monocytogenes can instead move within eukaryotic cells by explosive polymerization of actin filaments (known as comet tails or actin rockets).

So I hope no one gets hurt.

For those who want to you can sign up for FDA alerts to come to your email. They aren't obnoxious about it. You get one email a week, unless there is a immediate recall. That you get right away. MSN may or not pick up on it days later.


a reply to: dreamingawake

Thanks for adding a working link to the FDA link! Mine should have worked? Sigh....

@ Sillyosaurus - You would think freezing would kill most pathogens but it doesn't. Cooking properly kills some, but in reality once food is bad, it's still contaminated cooked or not.

Most people don't check their refridge temps, or that their ovens are calibrated.

The drama here in the "caver kitchen" was caused by the way I make my work lunches. I pack some cooked meat and dump in frozen veggies, which thaw in the work ref ridge till we get lunch. Lovely potential for food poisoning if I'd of used the recalled green beans! SHEESH!!! I finally find a quick fast way for a low-cal hot meal and then this recall happened!!

Mother's Day is coming up with family gatherings and all I could think of was to get word out before everyone's Mom got food poisoning for the holiday. Like everyone else I get frozen veggies when they are on sale and pull them out as needed. Just too much potential for everyone with this stuff sitting around.

It wasn't advertised as aggressively as it should have been to begin with.

originally posted by: Caver78
This has now been expanded to 358 frozen products.

Considering I get all of my 'vetted' news from ATS ...

Please accept my gratitude for this thread. Real-World notifications sent.

-Cheers

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: Caver78
This has now been expanded to 358 frozen products.

Considering I get all of my 'vetted' news from ATS ...

Please accept my gratitude for this thread. Real-World notifications sent.

-Cheers

This was the whole point! Getting folks to check their freezers and pass the word.
It's a colossal PITA too, but what're ya gonna do?

At least people are getting their money back no questions asked.

originally posted by: BrianFlanders
The curious thing about the frozen vegetables is that I would assume (although I know little about listeria) that it would be easily killed by steam. I would also assume most people are going to cook these vegetables before they eat them. Never heard of anyone just thawing out frozen vegetables and eating them raw.

Perhaps they're just calling it listeria when the food has been contaminated with chemicals or something else that'll kill a man. I think listeria is just an excuse to cover up how badly they actually messed up.

a reply to: Sillyosaurus

Different strains and species of virus and bacteria, can have wildly different abilities, where surviving in extreme temperatures is concerned.

It is NOT the case that you kill all the bacteria or viral material on a thing by freezing/ cooking it. You have to know EXACTLY what is present in, or on your food, in order to be sure how to kill it. The best way to avoid being infected with a bacterial or viral illness, is to avoid any food which has been called into significant question by the producers of that food, or the agency responsible for standards maintenance throughout the industry.

www.fda.gov...

Here is the quicks-chart and symptom onset times. Most people clutch their stomachs and groan "shouldn't have had that pizza/burger/salad yesterday". In reality it was whatever they ate several days ago.

Seriously, if I could print out this chart and hand it out on a street corner to everyone I would!

That`s a huge list, so basically all of those brands are selling the exact same vegetables under different brand names and for different prices?

originally posted by: Sillyosaurus

Good point. Only you have to hold the steam at 15- 30 minutes to kill things in there

But conventional wisdom says freezing for more than three days kills everything in there as well. So maybe lystiria must be one hell of a creature.

Not sure where you got this information, but it's incorrect. Foods brought to an internal temperature of 165 are free of most dangerous pathogens. There are a few exceptions.

While freezing 3 days will kill parasites, bacteria can survive quite a bit of punishment. It will also not do anything to mitigate illness from from the pathogens that make you ill through toxic byproducts (their microscopic poops).

The items recalled from this batch, heated to 165 throughout, are safe to eat.