Today In Alt Med

Organic Pine Nuts Contaminated With Peanuts, Says Distributor

Hummingbird Wholesale is warning customers in Washington and Oregon that bulk pine nuts purchased from "Natural Foods Retail" stores are contaminated with peanuts. The peanut contamination was found during a visual inspection, says the company in its press release.

Hummingbird Wholesale's official press release about this recall gave almost no other information about the situation. The notice, which apparently actually went out yesterday, is so poorly written that I can't even tell if "Natural Foods Retail" refers to a specific chain of stores or just Hummingbird Wholesale's customers in general.

Nor were Hummingbird Wholesale's website and Facebook page any help, either. The website contains no information about the recall at all (at least as far as I can see) and its Facebook page is also absent any mention of the recall--despite the fact that it's been updated by the company at least 3 times today.

All I can tell you right now is that the contaminated pine nuts were--according to the company's own press release--on the market as recently as tomorrow. (Yes. Tomorrow. Really.)  They were distributed to natural foods stores in 5-pound and 27.5-pound bulk bags for sale in bulk bins.

If you think you might have the contaminated pine nuts on hand and are concerned about a potential allergic reaction to peanuts (or you simply think you should get the product you thought you were buying in the first place) you can return your pine nuts to your store of purchase for a refund. For more information you can also contact Hummingbird Wholesale directly at 1-541-686-0921.

Two Moms In The Raw Announces Allergy Alert For Pesto Sea Crackers

Image of Two Moms in the Raw Gluten-Free Pesto Sea Crackers courtesy of FDA.

Organic snack maker Two Moms in the Raw is recalling its Gluten-Free Pesto Sea Crackers product and issuing an allergy alert because of potential cross-contamination with peanuts. In its press release, which was actually dated yesterday, Two Moms blamed the possible peanut contamination on an unnamed supplier from whom the company says it gets its pine nuts. Two Moms did not name that supplier and I am currently unable to find any information about any other recent recalls involving pine nuts at this time.

But back to the recall at hand . . . If you think you might have some of this in your home you'll need to look for 4-ounce bags of Two Moms in the Raw snacks labeled Gluten-Free Pesto Sea Crackers. If you find that, you'll need to turn the bag over and look at the lower part of the bag's backside for a lot number. There are multiple lot numbers affected by the Two Moms recall. Those include:

• 1008
• 1016
• 1027
• 1055
• 1067

Two Moms says that the recalled Pesto Sea Crackers were shipped coast-to-coast from early last month to early this month. If you have any of this on hand you should throw it out or take it back to your store of purchase. To get more info you can call Two Moms at (720) 221-8555.

You can also supposedly contact Two Moms through its website but as of my last visit to the site there was still no notice about the recall posted that I could find.

Pirates Host Allergy Awareness Night

This Friday the Pittsburgh Pirates will be partnering with drug company Mylan Specialty to host the team's very first Pirates Allergy Awareness night at the ballpark. Mylan's CEO, Heather Bresch said  this in the company's press release, "Life-threatening allergies are a growing public health problem, particularly among children and teens. In fact, a recent study shows as many as 1 in 13 children in the U.S. suffer from a food allergy."

To help encourage people with allergies to come out and catch a game the team is setting aside a section of the park for people with peanut allergies and designating it "peanut-free". Adds Heather Bresch,  "We are proud to partner with our hometown team to help the people of Pittsburgh and their family members with life-threatening peanut allergies experience the fun and excitement of a night out at the ball park."

And since the game happens to fall on a Friday fans who bought tickets to the game will get a free T-Shirt as well. (The Pirates are playing the San Diego Padres, by the way.)

There will also be periodic presentations about the dangers of food allergies, the team says. In particular, coach Mark Strittmatter will be doing a brief video about the issue. You can get your tickets for Friday night's game by going to the Pirates' website.

Note: This story was inspired by a press release distributed by Mylan Speciality and the Pittsburgh Pirates. As always, neither Lisa nor anyone else associated with any of our sites received any compensation or consideration for this story.

Clif Recalls Coconut Chocolate Chip Bars, Issues Allergy Alert

Image of recalled CLIF bars from FDA via CLIF

Clif Bars and Company has announced a recall of one of its Clif® Bar products after a labeling snafu put the wrong wrappers (but the right bars) into some packages. In a statement on the ClifBar.com website the company explains that some packages of its Coconut Chocolate Chip CLIF® Bars sold at Wal-Mart and Target may actually have packaging for the company's White Chocolate Macadamia CLIF Bar instead. The bars themselves are the right ones--if I'm reading that correctly--but the individual wrappers are not.

What this means is that some folks could potentially chow down on a Clif bar without realizing they're eating coconut. To avoid a potential allergic reaction the company is advising customers who have these products on hand to throw them out.

The exact product to look for is called Coconut Chocolate Chip CLIF® Bars. They were packaged in 6-count boxes and all the recalled boxes have the UPC 722252660305 and the "best by"         code 16MAY13G1. You can find the UPC code on the bottom of your box and your date code on the individual wrappers of the bars. And thanks to the photos CLIF made available you can see examples here:

• 
• 

Examples of how to find date codes for recalled CLIF bars generously provided by CLIF

 

If you have bars in any other flavors, you're OK, the company says. And if your coconut Chocolate Chip bars have any date code other than 16MAY13G1 you're OK, too. It will only be bars meeting all these criteria that are being pulled from the market.

And in what I consider a very classy move, the company has also placed notices in its Twitter stream and on its Facebook page. 

 

Whole Foods Issues Cupcake Recall

Label of recalled cupcakes provided by FDA.

Whole Foods stores in California are recalling cupcakes because the treats may contain walnuts that are not included on their ingredient lists. In a statement issued by Whole Foods Friday the store said the cupcakes were sold as part of 6-count variety packs that included chocolate, vanilla, red velvet and carrot cake-flavored cupcakes.

Only the carrot cake cupcakes contain walnuts, says the company. The other flavors are nut-free. Furthermore, the 6-packs that contain only carrot cake cupcakes (and no other flavors) should be properly labeled and are not being recalled.

The company admits that it has received 1 report of someone suffering an allergic reaction. People with allergies to walnuts could, adds the company, suffer a life-threatening reaction if they consume the carrot cake cupcakes.

The cupcakes were packaged in clear "clamshell" packages. All the packages had sell-by dates prior to May 10, 2012. If you have these on hand you're invited to return them to your place of purchase for a refund. Stores in the area affected by this recall have all posted notices letting customers know about it.

Whole Foods says that all remaining inventory of these cupcakes has been removed from store shelves and their packaging has been corrected.

Communities where these cupcakes were sold include:

• Folsom
• Lafayette
• Los Altos
• Mill Valley
• Novato
• Palo Alto
• San Francisco
• San Jose
• Santa Rosa
• Sonoma

Rexall Recalls Supplements After Mix-Up; Allergy Alert Issued

Photo of recalled Rexall Calcium 1200 plus 1000 provided by FDA. Accessible at FDA.gov.

Rexall, Inc. is recalling its Rexall Calcium 1200 mg plus 1000IU Vitamin D3 product--and issuing an allergy alert for it--after a mixup resulted in bottles being sent out with Rexall's Triple Strength Glucosamine Chondroitin and MSM Tablets in them instead.

In Rexall's press release, which was dated yesterday, the company didn't offer any details about how the mixup occured but it did stress that no actual allergic reactions have been reported to it.  Rexall did admit, however, that the problem was only discovered after "customers complained".  They apparently recognized the difference because the glucosamine product is a tablet while the calcium product that was supposed to be in the bottles comes in softgel form.

Rexall says that the product was sold only in Dollar General Stores and that this recall covers only 1 lot number.  Customers who believe they have the recalled supplement on hand will want to look for:

• Rexall Calcium 1200 mg plus 1000IU Vitamin D3, 60 softgels with the UPC 3 01220 45211 3 and expiration date of 08/15 and lot number of 387651-04

Anyone with this product in his or her possession can return it to their nearest Dollar General store for a refund.  The press release from Rexall was actually dated yesterday but as of my visit to DollarGeneral.com this morning I can still find no mention of the recall and allergy alert on the company's recall page.  However, the only calcium product I could find on the site was a DG-branded 600 mg caplet product.  Rexall's website doesn't even have a recall page that I could find.  Fortunately, the FDA has provided a photo of the recalled supplement's label.  You can see that in the image above.