Taste of Roux recalls jarred soups over botulism risk

ANOTHER FOOD SAFETY ALERT – THIS TIME IT IS BOTULISM – THIS ONE IS A KILLER

Taste of Roux recalls jarred soups over botulism risk

Valley Village, California company Taste of Roux, is recalling a variety of jarred soups because of the potential botulism risk triggered by possible improper processing of the soup products.

In a California Department of Public Health (CDPH) press release Thursday, Health Director Dr. Ron Chapman warned consumers today not to eat Taste of Roux, LLC jarred soups saying ingestion of botulism toxin from improperly processed jarred and canned foods may lead to serious illness and death.

The recall affects the following soup products: Lentil, Black Bean, Tomato, Carrot Ginger, Vegetarian Chili, and Detox. The soups were sold under the Taste of Roux label and packaged in quart and pintglass jars with screw-on metal lids.

According to the release, the recalled soups were sold only at:

· Malibu Farmers Market, 23555 Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265, Sundays, beginning on November 20, 2011

· Autry Farmers Market, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027, Saturdays, beginning on May 5, 2012.

Consumers in possession of the recalled products are advised to discard the soup in the trash.

Food borne botulism occurs when the bacterium Clostridium botulinum is allowed to grow and produce toxin in food that is later eaten without sufficient heating or cooking to inactivate the toxin. Botulinum toxin is one of the most potent neurotoxins known.

Growth of this anaerobic bacteria and the formation of the toxin tend to happen in products with low acidity and oxygen content and low salt and sugar content. Inadequately processed, home-canned foods like asparagus, green beans, beets, and corn have commonly been implicated.

However, there have been outbreaks of botulism from more unusual sources such as chopped garlic in oil, chili peppers, improperly handled baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil and home-canned or fermented fish. Garden foods like tomatoes, which used to be considered too acidic for the growth of Clostridium botulinum, is now considered a potentially hazardous food in home canning.

Though more common in home-canned foods, it does happen occasionally in commercially prepared foods.

Typically in a few hours to several days after you eat the contaminated food you will start to show the classic symptoms; blurred vision, dry mouth, and difficulty in swallowing. Gastrointestinal symptoms may or may not occur. If untreated, the paralysis always descends through the body starting at the shoulders and working its way down.

The most serious complication of botulism is respiratory failure where it is fatal in up to 10% of people. It may take months before recovery is complete.

If the disease is caught early enough it can be treated with antitoxin. If paralysis and respiratory failure happen, the person may be on a ventilator for several weeks.

Photographs of the affected packages can be found HERE.

Bill & Sheila’s Food Safety – Bacterial Infections – botulism

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