FDA Alert: Products Made With Powdered Milk Recalled For Possible Salmonella

A wide range of products containing powdered milk and possibly contaminated with salmonella have been recalled, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says.

In fact, as of Sunday, Dec. 18, dozens of bakery products — including custom-made cakes — have been recalled by grocery retailers like Albertsons, Safeway, Publix, and H-E-B as they were made with powdered milk by Valley Milk Products LLC, which is believed to be polluted with salmonella.

The companies and their recalled items include:

Valley Milk Products’ nonfat high heat milk powder and sweet cream buttermilk powder
Shearer's Foods’ kettle chips, potato chips, and nacho chips.
Deep River Snacks’ kettle chips.
Boulder Brands’ macaroni and cheese.

Meanwhile, Tree House Foods’ suffers a huge loss with their recall on mac and cheese cups by Big Win and Cheese Club. Other items recalled include:

New Hope Mills’ crepe mix and Brand Castle’s monkey bread mix.
Poppies International’s Delizza chocolate mini-eclairs and chocolate dipped cream puffs.

Salmonella is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the infection is responsible for one million U.S. food-borne illnesses each year – averaging about 450 deaths annually.

“Most persons infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection,” the CDC website says. “The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized.”

Just last week, a possible salmonella contamination led Publix Super Markets to...

.....yank three of its popular waffle and pancake mixes:

16-ounce Publix Premium Pancake Mix bags in the pumpkin-, blueberry- and banana-flavored chocolate chip varieties.

CNN reports that these goods were sold at stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The initial recall however, came earlier this month, when Valley Milk Products’ issued a warning stating that the bacterial issue arose at the manufacturing plant, but hadn’t presented itself in any finished product. In spite of it all, the possible contamination was enough for Valley Milk Products to recall all 50-pound bags of nonfat high-heat milk powder and sweet cream buttermilk powder produced from Dec. 10, 2015, to July 5, 2016 -- sold to food-producing companies.

The most recent: On Saturday, Dec, 17, Williams-Sonoma placed a recall on 1-pound, 2-ounce bags of Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Quick Bread shipped to stores from August on.

To date, no illnesses associated with the recalled products have been reported. The USDA recommends that consumers who believe they may have purchased infected goods throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.