La Guadalupana product recalled over Listeria risk

Recall date

January 17, 2015

Source

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA FSIS)

Official notice title

Illinois Firm Recalls Chicken Products Produced Without Adequate Ready-To-Eat HACCP Plan and a Listeria Monocytogenes Program

Recall number

014-2015(Original)

FDA classification

Class I

Brand / firm

La Guadalupana

Why it was recalled

Processing Defect; Product Contamination

Class I is the FDA’s most serious recall level: there is a reasonable probability that using this product will cause serious harm or death.

What was recalled

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2015 La Guadalupana Wholesale, Inc., a Chicago, Ill., establishment, is recalling approximately 8,856 pounds of chicken tamales because they were not produced under a fully implemented Ready-To-Eat (RTE) Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan; a Listeria monocytogenes ( Lm ) program; and a hazard analysis the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The products subject to recall include: [ Labels (PDF Only)] 2 packs of 6 tamales in each vacuum-packed bag of LA GUADALUPANA CHICKEN TAMALES The products bear the establishment number P-21094 inside the USDA mark of inspection with packaging dates from Nov. 19, 2014 through Jan. 4, 2015 on the label. The products were produced from Dec. 1, 2014 through Jan. 5, 2015, and then packaged using a Cryovac machine by a co-packer of La Guadalupana Wholesale from Nov.19, 2014through Jan. 2, 2015. La Guadalupana Wholesales co-packer did not conduct a hazard analysis to determine the food safety hazards reasonably likely to occur in the cryovacing process and did not identify the preventive measures the establishment could apply to control those hazards. The chicken tamales are a RTE product and fall within the Fully Cooked Not Shelf Stable category. As such, their production requires an Lm program. The product is also processed by means of physical handling and packaging, thus further requiring a HACCP plan. They were distributed for retail sale in Chicago, Ill. The problem was discovered by an FSIS inspector, who was conducting a sanitation task in the co-packers establishment and saw plant personnel handling the RTE product in a room where raw product is also handled. An investigation was conducted and found that the co-packer had not conducted an RTE hazard analysis, developed or implemented a HACCP plan for the chicken tamales, or developed and implemented an Lm testing program. Thus, there is no assurance the products are wholesome and; t…