The Georgia Straight - Craig Takeuchi on October 18th, 2019
Over the past few months, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been announcing a large number of meat products being recalled throughout Canada, including British Columbia.
The products include chicken, beef, veal, sausages, sandwiches, meat salads, and more.
While some of the products have been primarily distributed within the food industry (to institutions, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and more), others have been sold in grocery stores such as Safeway, IGA, Sobey’s, Urban Fare, and Overwaitea.
The reasons for the recalls are either for possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes or E. coli contamination.
Information about E. coli and Listeria, including symptoms, risks, and treatment, is available at the Health Canada website.
For those who are wondering why there are so many meat recalls, CTV News explained on October 16 that more stringent safety guidelines came into effect in January, resulting in stricter CFIA standards, and is not a result of a more risky meat market.
Here is a roundup of the food products distributed in B.C. that are being recalled.
Chicken and sandwiches
On October 1, the CFIA announced that HQ Fine Foods began recalling its Quality Fast Foods sandwiches with a variety of ingredients due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
The products include:
- Deli Chicken Salad Sandwich White (188 grams) with UPC 0 58578 47537 9;
- Deli Roast Beef and Cheese Sandwich White (196 grams) with UPC 0 58578 47533 1;
- Deli Egg Salad Sandwich White (188 grams) with UPC 0 58578 47535 5.
All have a date code stating “Best Before OC 03 OC 10“.
Then on October 2, Sobey’s initiated a recall of specific sandwiches and in-store-made chicken salads for the same reason.
The products include:
- at IGA: classic chicken salad, in-store-made chicken salad, chicken mulligatawny salad, and classic meal chicken salad;
- at Safeway: buffalo chicken salad, in-store-made chicken salad, classic meal chicken salad, chicken mulligatawny salad, chicken salad sandwich, mini croissant chicken salad, and curried chicken salad with raisins;
- at Sobey’s: classic chicken salad, classic meal chicken salad, chicken mulligatawny salad, buffalo chicken salad, and curried chicken salad with raisins.
On October 3, Urban Fare’s Yaletown location (177 Davie Street) began a recall of two products:
- Curried Chicken and Mango Salad Wrap (395 grams, UPC 286520 307991, with all date codes);
- Curry Chicken Apricot Salad (300 grams, UPC 286173 605499, with all date codes).
On October 4, PoCo’s Hometown Grocer (2535 Shaugnessy Street, Port Coquitlam) started recalling its in-store-made chicken salad (with UPC starting with 203799 and date codes up to and including “PACKED ON 2019.SE.30” “BEST BEFORE 2019.OC.07”).
Wong Wing’s Chicken Chow Mein (400 grams, UPC 0 69459 02116 5, and various date codes), which is sold nationally, also started being recalled on the same day.
These products are part of an ongoing investigation into chicken products that may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
For a complete list of affected chicken products, which includes numerous other chicken products in B.C., visit the CFIA website.
Corned beef and pastrami
On October 11, the CFIA announced that Save on Foods began recalling two specific corned beef products due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
One product was corned beef (in variable sizes) served at the deli counter with a UPC starting with 298230 and with dates codes (indicating when they were packed) from 2019.SE.25 to 2019.OC.10 inclusively.
Save on Foods’ corned beef and swiss cheese sandwich, with a UPC starting with 281300 and dates codes (indicating when they were packed) from 2019.SE.25 to 2019.OC.10 inclusively.
Then on October 12, the CFIA stated that Nossack Fine Meats began a recall (for the same reason) of Butcher’s Pride Corned Beef (with date code BEST BEFORE 2019NO27) and Pastrami (with date code BEST BEFORE 2019NO27) in variable sizes and no UPC.
Sausage
On September 26, the CFIA announced that G. Brandt Meat Packers issued a national recall for Brant brand Extra Lean Kolbassa Sausage (250 grams) due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The affected product has UPC 7 73321 47480 4 and a date code of “BEST BEFORE 19OC19”.
Then on October 16, ready-to-eat dry sausage products from Ontario began being recalled in several provinces due to potential Salmonella contamination.
The product distributed in B.C. is Filicetti Foods’ Italian Style Sausage (mild, dry-cured sausage) with product code 611 and no UPC, sold in variable sizes.
Beef and veal
Beginning on October 1, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency began announcing a series of recalls for beef and veal products from Rydling-Regency Meat Packers and St. Ann’s Foods/Rydling-Regency Meat Packers due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.
The list of affected products has since grown to be quite extensive.
One recalled product sold to B.C. consumers at a supermarket, as announced on October 15, is Fast Fresh Fabulous’ Bacon Wrapped Petite Tender Medallions, sold at Overwaitea in B.C.
All other products were distributed to food-service establishments (including restaurants and hotels), institutions (including care homes, hospitals, and cafeterias), and retailers.
On October 1, the CFIA announced that Rydling-Regency Meat Packers began a recall of Rydling-Regency Meat Packers’ brand of raw beef and raw veal products due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.
The products were distributed nationally in food-service establishments, including hotels and restaurants.
The extensive list includes products such as beef tenderloin, striploin, and blade flanks to veal ribs, flanks, and clods.
The list of this brand of products was expanded to include updates relevant to B.C. on October 2, 3, and 4, and 8.
On October 6, the list was joined by the Beef Boutique, which began recalling its raw beef products, including its six-ounce beef burger (product number 2530450 and date code Packed 19/06/12) and lean ground beef (product numbers 2614850 and 2664250 and date codes Packed 19/06/14 and Packed 19/06/12).
On October 7, the recall expanded to include food products prepared by Centennial Foods, which included beef patties, beef burgers, and ground beef. These products were distributed to food-service establishments and included hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals, and nursing homes.
HelloFresh’s lean ground beef (250 and 500 grams) was added to the B.C. list on October 9.
On October 11, Schneiders’ SCH Tasty Brd Veal Cutlette (4.54 kilograms) and several of MacGregors Meat and Seafood’s veal shanks, veal rack, and veal rack chops (sold nationally to restaurants) were added.
A full list of these products, including identifying codes and products that are specific to other provinces, is available at the CFIA website. You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at @cinecraig or on Facebook.