Health Law

Chicken of the Sea Tuna Recall

By Drew Falkenstein

On July 1, 2010 Tri-Union Seafoods announced a recall of Chicken of the Sea 12 ounce cans of solid white tuna packed in water.  The company cited a production error that may have created defective seals during the production process, thus creating a risk for the germination of botulism spores.

These products were distributed in ten states including Wisconsin, Nebraska, Utah, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, Colorado, Indiana, California and Oregon. The distribution dates were in February and May. The 12 ounce Chicken of the Sea solid white tuna packed in water has a upc code of 4800000262, "Best By Date 2/10/2014" and product code 7OA1E ASWAB, 7OA2E ASWAB, 7OA3E ASWAB, 7OA4E ASWAB, 7OA5E ASWAB, 7OAEE ASWAB or 7OAFE ASWAB. The best by dates and product code numbers are imprinted on the bottom of the cans. No other Chicken of the Sea products are affected by this recall.There have been no reports of sickness identified with the consumption of this product.

Botulism is a muscle-paralyzing disease caused by a toxin made by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. There are three main kinds of botulism: Foodborne botulism occurs when a person ingests pre-formed toxin that leads to illness within a few hours to days; Infant botulism occurs in a small number of susceptible infants each year who harbor C. botulinum in their intestinal tract; and wound botulism occurs when wounds are infected with C. botulinum that secretes the toxin.

With foodborne botulism, symptoms begin within 6 hours to 10 days (most commonly between 12 and 36 hours) after eating food that contains the toxin. Symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness that moves down the body, usually affecting the shoulders first, then the upper arms, lower arms, thighs, calves, etc. Paralysis of breathing muscles can cause a person to stop breathing and die, unless assistance with breathing (mechanical ventilation) is provided.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on July 05, 2010 (boomark / email).