A total of 133 food recall notifications were issued last month, a slight decrease from August.
Type of products recalled
Dietetic foods and food supplements continue holding firm at the top for the third consecutive month. From a total of 25 recalls, the main reasons were the presence of ethylene oxide, and THC in CBD oil.
Cereals and bakery products are back on the podium, with a total of 11 recalled products. Some of the reasons include undeclared sulphites, undeclared milk and unspecified foreign bodies.
Chicken meat, chicken fillets and duck breast fillet were mostly affected by the presence of Salmonella.
Reasons for Recall
Unauthorized substances are once again the main reason for food recalls in European countries, causing the recall of 54 products. The main substances found include Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), ethylene oxide, chloroethanol, and prochloraz in lemons.
Prochloraz is an imidazole fungicide that is widely used in Europe, Australia, Asia, and South America within gardening and agriculture. Allowed in the EU since 2012, its Maximum Residue Level (MRL) was updated in February 2020 and is now 0.03 mg/kg for citrus fruits. Lemons from Turkey were found to have up to 2.25 mg of Prochloraz per kilogram.
Toxins, alkaloids and chemicals came in second, with 25 recall notifications, including the presence of trans fatty acid in biscuit cookies and chocolate candies, and Diarrhoeic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) toxins in live mussels.
Salmonella was responsible for the recall of 15 products, affecting not just human consumers, with chicken from Poland and France, but also pets, with contaminated dog and cat food from Germany. Sesame seeds, often found to have very high levels of pesticide residues, were now also found to be contaminated with Salmonella.
Country of Origin
The top 3 of origin countries was exclusively made up of European countries, something that hadn’t happened since last June.
14 products originating from Germany were recalled, including pet food contaminated with Salmonella and potatoes and spreads containing potentially dangerous foreign bodies.
Products originating in Poland and France were mostly recalled due to the presence of moulds and some of the most common food-borne pathogens: Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria and E.coli.
Country of Recall
Unsurprisingly, Germany issued more recall notifications (38) than any other country in Europe. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Hemp Tea, Protein Bars and Cannabis Cookies, and Salmonella in pet food were some of the reasons.
France came second on this list, with cases of Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter in cockles, chicken, dried sausage and smoked salmon.
Denmark, also a regular on this top, issued 10 recalls, with some cases of mould in cocoa and cream roll cake and in tortillas, and cases of bulging packaging in miso paste and in hummus - a common sign of some sort of undesired bacterial activity.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to get a monthly overview of food recalls in Europe.