Recall Friday: Mushroom soup, roast beef, and jelly beans

November 6, 2:12 PMFood ExaminerEric Burkett

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Forget the pathogens: improper labeling is really what’s going to do everyone in this week.

Isn't this your responsiblity? No, it's yours.
A recall on cream of mushroom soup also, unintentionally, highlights the seemingly arbitrary differences in regulatory powers of the United States Food and Drug Administration, and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Bay Valley Foods has recalled more than 20,000 pounds of cream of mushroom soup because it may contain eggs, a potential allergen which is not listed among the soup’s ingredients. Bay Valley Foods, which produces food for private labels for retailers around the country, issued the recall after a customer complained about the Meijer Cream of Mushroom Reduced Sodium Condensed Soup they had purchased. Despite the complaint, there have been no reported illnesses linked to the product which was distributed to stores in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio.

Had the soup been contaminated with another undeclared allergen, wheat for example, the recall would have been issued by the FDA rather than the USDA. The USDA oversees and regulates meat, poultry, and egg products. The FDA regulates all other foods. The cream of mushroom soup is still a problem, no matter who regulates it. Additional information

Jelly beans recalled
In another undeclared allergen recall, Jelly Belly, the California producer of the popular jelly beans, has recalled 7.5-ounce cylinder-style packages of 49 Flavors Jelly Belly jelly beans because they don’t list peanuts or peanut flour among the candies’ ingredients. The jelly beans were distributed to more than 200 retailers around the country. Additional information

Gimme a roast beef on rye with everything
Another recall for undeclared allergens falls, once again, under the purview of the USDA. Curly's Food, Inc., of Sioux City, Iowa, has recalled approximately 12,000 pounds of roast beef deli products because they were labeled incorrectly and contain an undeclared allergen, soy. Healthy Ones brand medium-cooked roast beef was distributed to retail-type delicatessens and Department of Defense Commissaries in California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Additional information

Catalog cookies recalled
Charleston Cookie Co. is recalling packages of almond cookies containing butter which isn’t detailed among the baked goods’ ingredients. They were included in Dean and Deluca’s “Americana Cookie” collection with five other flavors of cookies in a 36-ounce silver tin and distributed through Dean and Deluca’s catalogue. Additional information

Wait: didn't you have a cup of that back in '08?
Cooler weather makes hot chocolate irresistible but if you’ve got nut allergies, maybe you should stick with a cup of tea. Pelican Bay is recalling its Caramel Chocolate Truffle Hot Chocolate Mix because it may contain tree nuts, which are not listed among the beverage mix’s ingredients. If that seems pretty straight-forward, consider this: the recall includes all the mix sold and distributed between January,  2007 and November, 2009. The chocolate drink is distributed nationwide as well as to Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Additional information