Our son skipped the 'baby food' stage, having exclusively breastfed till 10 months, he went straight to 'finger foods' made up of primarily tiny fruit and veggie pieces. However, I know a lot of parents who shop for baby food items at Whole Foods (a natural foods grocery store that, I admit, I am addicted to), and Plum Organics is one of the 'better' baby foods out there. Plum Organics baby foods are sold primarily at Whole Foods, Target, and Babies R Us.
They recently had a recall on their Portable Pouches (which our son did try once at 13-months of age and decided it wasn't for him). There is no scary problem with the pouches - but the blend of apples and carrots was not accurate as per the label, so the company has issued the recall in order to meet quality guidelines. Interestingly, the products impacted were ONLY sold at Babies R Us and Target stores - NOT at Whole Foods.
The letter sent from Plum Organics founder, Gigi Lee Chang, is below.
October 19, 2009
Dear Parents,
I wanted to let you know that, today, Plum Organics voluntarily recalled a small portion of our Apple & Carrot Baby Food in Portable Pouches after a routine test determined the formulation was incorrect. Plum Organics immediately investigated the matter and confirmed that a mixing error was to blame which resulted in an improper blend of carrots and apples.
We have recalled all Apple & Carrot Baby Food in Portable Pouches with the best by date of May 21, 2010 and marked with the following number “890180001221” located at the bottom of the package.
No illnesses have been reported in connection with this product. We conducted extensive testing of samples of every Plum Organic product manufactured before and after this batch and all samples were found to be within the standard guidelines.
Consumers can return any Plum Organics Apple & Carrot pouch-based baby food with the above “best by” date and UPC code to Toys-R-Us or Babies-R-Us for a full reimbursement. Please accept my deepest apologies for this inconvenience.
If you have any further questions, please contact Plum Organics at info@plumorganics.com.
Sincerely,
Gigi Lee Chang
Founder
The LA Times and CBS reported that the reason for this recall was a concern that the food *may* be contaminated with botulism-causing bacteria.
ReplyDeleteFrom the LAT:
"No injuries or illnesses have been reported, but the mixing error resulted in the baby food possibly being contaminated with clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, the [FDA] said.
Botulism is a serious illness that can lead to muscle paralysis and, in some cases, respiratory failure.
Because of the health risk, consumers should not feed their children the baby food, the FDA said."
From CBS:
"The company says the product did not meet the FDA guidelines for proper acidity level, leaving it vulnerable to botulism contamination."
Read the full story:
http://tinyurl.com/yg95t2q
http://tinyurl.com/yjldscq