Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Health Law Blogs -> Food Safety News

Health Law

: Food Safety News

Recall: Possible Salmonella in Whey Protein Powder

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

Protein powder has been recalled by a Georgia company because the whey protein isolate in the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.
Vitalabs, Inc. announced a voluntary recall Friday of four specific lot numbers of Whey-26 Protein Powder distributed in various parts of the United States, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington, as well as outside the U.S. in Aruba, Ontario and Poland.
The recalled product was offered through a variety of distribution channels including health food stores, clinics, fitness centers and Internet-based companies and sold under several brands, including Donne Hale's, Dr. Bill's Choice, HCG Buy Direct, The Healthy Way, Innovative Nutra Labs Nutrapure, Iron Mag Labs, Len Rossi's, Lifestyle Perfect, Nature's Pantry, Northeast Ohio Endocrinology, Nutrition World Ultra, Peachtree Natural Foods, Sharp Labs G. Booster, SouthFit Supplements, Susan's Essential Formulas, Team Kattouf, This is Bio Shape Shake, Trainer's Choice, Unlimited Nutrition Athletic, X3 Nutrition, YourHCG.Com and Vitalabs. For a description of the specific products see the news release posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website.
Whey protein isolates are filtered milk proteins popular as dietary supplements for body building and weight training.
Following are the lot numbers involved in the recall: Vanilla Whey Isolate: Lot Number 3473Vanilla Whey Isolate: Lot Number 0131Chocolate Whey Isolate: Lot Number 3477Strawberry Whey Isolate: Lot Number 3364
There have been no reports of illness associated with the product.
Consumers who purchased any of the affected lot numbers are urged to return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund or credit. Contact Vitalabs, Inc. at 1-800-241-3017, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, if you have questions.
Adverse reaction or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online, by regular mail, or by fax. -- Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm. -- Regular mail: use postage-paid, pre-addressed Form FDA 3500 available at www.fda.gov/MedWatch/getforms.htm. Mail to address on the pre-addressed form. -- Fax: 1-800-FDA-0178. Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (e.g., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. 

Full post as published by Food Safety News on March 12, 2011 (boomark / email).