Tuesday, March 09, 2010

FDA Recalls Foods with Flavor Enhcnacers b/c of Salmonella

Federal health authorities announced the recall of a commonly used flavor enhancer after samples of the product were found to contain salmonella.

It may be in the thousands according to the director at the Office of Food Safety at the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, about the product, called hydrolyzed vegetable protein, also called HVP.

The bacterium, identified as Salmonella Tennessee, was found in HVP manufactured by Basic Food Flavors Inc. of Las Vegas, Nevada.

HVP is used in processed foods, including soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravy, seasoned snack foods and dressings.

"We are working hard to respond to this particular outbreak; we also are working hard to put in place the kinds of preventive control measures to prevent this kind of contamination from happening in the first place," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg.

Source: Here.