Recalled Foods Found on W.Va. Shelves

By MARY CHILDRESS

DAILY MAIL STAFF

More than a week after cans of potentially contaminated chili, meat products and pet foods were pulled from grocery store shelves nationwide, state and federal inspectors found the items still stocked in stores around West Virginia.

The federal Food and Drug Administration and the Castleberry Food Company of Atlanta, Ga., announced July 18 they were voluntarily recalling items thought to be contaminated with botulinum toxin, a bacterium that can cause botulism.

At the time just 10 products, all with “best buy” dates from April 30, 2009 to May 22, 2009, were set for the recall.

Since then, the recall has been expanded to include more than 90 Castleberry food products including canned chili, beef stew, corned beef hash and other meat products produced at the Augusta plant. Castleberry closed operations at that plant July 25.

Just last week, however, inspector with the FDA visited more than 50 stores in West Virginia, where they found many of the recalled products still on store shelves in Charleston, Morgantown and the Eastern Panhandle.

Inspectors found similar situations in other states, officials said.

“As of Friday, July 27, there was probably some of the Castleberry products still on store shelves,” said Herma Johnson, division director of the West Virginia Department of Agriculture Regulatory and Environmental Affairs Division. “But we believe the products would only be found in rural mom-and-pop stores or the smaller convenience stores in the state.

“Once a recall has been put in place either by the FDA or the food company itself, our staff of regulatory officers will ask the stores to remove it from the shelves in the stores,” Johnson said.

“”We’re still checking the larger grocery stores right now, like the Kroger or Food Lion or Save-A-Lot stores, and they are aware of the recall,” she said. “Where we’re finding problems is with the smaller convenience stores and mom-and-pop grocers.

Johnson said her office’s regulatory officers still were out Monday looking for the products.

“Some of the distributors of the foods didn’t have an expanded list of retailers such as those mom-and-pop stores or convenience stores that still could have the Castleberry brand products on the shelves. We were calling on them Monday,” she said.

Johnson said one problem with tracking the recalled items is that a lot of the smaller stores and local, rural groceries might have bought the Castleberry food items from larger warehouse stores, like Sam’s Club or Wal-Mart.

“We’d have no way of tracking that,” Johnson said. “Those folks who bought from there to re-sell the products at their own stores might not be aware of the recall.”

All the states that have stores carrying Castleberry products are now working with the FDA to alert the stores and get products pulled.

The recall involves a wide variety of hot dog chili under brands other than Castleberry’s, including Austex, Kroger, Meijer, Food Lion, Bloom and Thrifty Maid.

Also involved in the recall is Castleberry’s dog food line, which sells under the name Natural Balance.

There have been no reported illnesses linked to the dog food but Castleberry’s recommends all of these products should still be discarded.

A wide variety of meat and chili products carrying the brand names of Austex, Best Yet, Big Y, Black Rock, Bryan, Bunker Hill, Cattle Drive, Firefighter, Food Club, Georgia, Gold Star, Great Value, Kroger, Lowe’s, Meijer, Morton House, Paramount, Piggly- Wiggly, Prudence, Southern Home, Steak N Shake, Thrifty Maid, Triple Bar and Value Time were also recalled.

The FDA urged consumers to dispose of any of these products by double bagging them in tightly sealed plastic bags and placed them in a trash receptacle outside the home.

“Castleberry Food Company took the initiative in recalling its product, but there’s so much of the company’s product out there,” Johnson said. “All the states are working with the FDA in getting all of the stores alerted and the products pulled.”

For more information, visit Castleberry’s Web site at www.castleberrys.com or call the toll-free consumer hotline at (800) 203-4412 or (800) 203-8446.

Contact writer Mary Childress at maryc@dailymail.com or 348- 4886.

(c) 2007 Charleston Daily Mail. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.