Over 150 Canadian food recalls last year included mislabeling, plastic, insects in products

By Connor Lynch

There were 155 publicly -announced food recalls in Canada last year that included numerous products from flour to fish.

Many recalls were for improper labelling or undeclared ingredients due to allergy concerns. Other recalls were due to broken seals and damaged packaging or the presence of insects, plastics, metals, or bacteria. Seafood was among the most common food recalls.

But Canadians are not about to stop eating, nor are they showing much concern, even when what is showing up in your fish is a parasitic worm.

That’s according to a study done by Sylvain Charlebois, fean of the faculty of management at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and a professor of food distribution and policy.

“It seems as though there’s lots of noise out there and consumers don’t tend to pay attention to recalls in general because there are so many,” Charlebois said.
Most contamination, as much as 80 per cent, occurs once the food is taken home, Charlebois said.

Here’s a partial list of some of the more serious recalls by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ontario last year:

• Xin Rui pork meatballs, due to pieces of plastic in the product;

• Pfenning’s Organic Vegetables carrot juice, recalled due metal pieces;

• Ground lean veal, recalled due to E. coli 0157:H7;

• Earth Teaze Brand Pure Peppermint Herbal Tea and Chamomile Herbal Tea, recalled due to presence of insects;

• True North Seafood Choppers Smoke Salmon Flakes, recalled due to Listeria monocytogenes;

• IHOC Rainbow Trout Caviar, recalled due to presence of dangerous bacteria;

• Gelsius brand frozen raspberry products, recalled due to Norovirus;

• Compliments brand white old cheddar, recalled due to pieces of metal and plastic;

• Robin Hood brand baker’s all-purpose flour, recalled due to E. coli 0121;

• IOGO yogurt products, recalled due to potential presence of pieces of plastic;

• Longo’s brand ground meat products, recalled due to E. coli 0157:H7;

• Pezzetta brand montasio DOP cheese, recalled due to Listeria monocytogenes;

• Heinz brand apple juice from concentrate, recalled due to mold;

• Fresh & Healthy brand shredded cheddar cheese, recalled due to E. coli;

• Fresh & Healthy brand Chunk Edam Cheese and Whipped Butter, recalled due to E. coli and coliforms;

• Fresh & Healthy brand Chunk Feta Cheese, recalled due to E. coli.