Health warnings have been issued in three states due to “foreign material” found in what was intended as special pure food salt.
The recall was pushed by the company itself, Compass Minerals America Inc, but this month the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a more serious Class II risk classification.
The FDA’s Class II determination, made last Friday, means the agency has determined that ingesting the contaminated salt “may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health effects.”
About 148,000 pounds (67.08 tons) of contaminated salt was distributed in Maine, Indiana and Wisconsinthe FDA said.
Bulk discount supermarket giant Costco, which sells many of Wonder Brands’ salt and bread products – including Country Harvest, D’Italiano, No Name and Great Value – also issued a recall due to the foreign metal contamination.
‘If you have the affected product in your possession, do not consume it’ Costco warned. ‘You may return the product to any Costco warehouse to receive a full refund.’
A Compass Minerals representative said the company “sold the now-recalled products exclusively to commercial customers, all of whom have been notified.”
Urgent ‘continuing’ warnings have been issued in three states, Maine, Indiana and Wisconsin, due to ‘foreign material’ found in what was intended as special pure food salt.
CFIA authorities noted that a ‘ongoing food safety research is now actively investigating where else this contaminated salt may have traveled along the food industry supply.
CFIA amended the Sifto brand Hy·Grade Salt metal recall to “add additional products,” officials noted, including “Sifto Table Salt 1 kg (2.2 lbs).”
And numerous lot codes were provided for both direct-to-consumer salt packages and bulk salt packages for the food industryincludes three 1 kg (2.2 lb) packs of Sifto table salt, lot numbers 3241007, 3241008, 3241009 and 3241011.
Consumers who are concerned are urged to come by FDA.gov , CFIA, Compass Minerals website and/or The Wonder Brand website for more information.
In their response to DailyMail.com, the Compass Minerals spokesperson stressed that ‘no injuries have been reported yet’ as a result of the metal contamination.
“We worked closely with our BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety certifying agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) throughout the process,” the company representative said via email.
Although the original recalls did not specify what “non-organic, foreign material” had been discovered in the company’s bulk food salt, a later recall from the makers of Wonder Bread, which used the salt in their products (pictured), identified the pollutants such as industrial metals
Further investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) found that smaller packages of food salt used by the average consumer – as opposed to food establishments and restaurants – were also contaminated, which could likely impact US states as well.
“Compass Minerals takes this matter very seriously as safety and quality are top priorities for our company,” the spokesperson continued.
The company confirmed that it initiated the voluntary recall on November 9, “after a business customer notified our company of metal fragments found in the food-grade salt it had received.”
Customers in Canada have also been warned about the salt, in keeping with the recent pattern of food recalls in which products such as MadeGood granola bars and frozen waffles sold at Walmart and Target have been recalled in both countries at the same time.
Further investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) found that smaller packages of food-grade salt used by the average consumer – as opposed to food establishments and restaurants – were also contaminated, which could impact US states.
Although some of the original recalls did not specify what “non-organic, foreign material” had been discovered in the company’s bulk food salt, a later recall by the makers of Wonder Bread, which used the salt, identified the contaminants as industrial metals. .
Metal contamination in fine-grained food additives has become a notable problem across the industry this year.
Last August, cinnamon became one of the most remembered foods in America after it was found to contain toxic metals linked to cancer.
That month, El Chilar, LLC, expanded its recall of ‘Canela Molida’ ground cinnamon after an investigation revealed traces of lead, becoming the tenth brand of cinnamon to be recalled for containing the toxic metal.
Officials have warned that there is no safe level of lead because it has been linked to behavioral, growth and learning problems in children, hundreds of whom have been sickened by the drug in the past year.
And in adults, health agencies such as the FDA and CDC have classified this metal as a possible carcinogen, noting that there is no safe level of lead consumption.
Short-term exposure to lead can lead to symptoms such as headaches, abdominal pain, vomiting and anemia. Prolonged exposure can lead to additional symptoms such as lethargy, weight loss, constipation and breathing difficulties.