Tucson Tamale Blue Corn, Veggie & Cheese Tamales (2 Pack), 11 OZ (312g), plastic bag…
Tucson Tamale Wholesale Company, LLC recalled this product and the FDA reported the enforcement action on 9 December 2020 as Class II. The recall was initiated by the firm. Plastic pieces (1-2 cm) were discovered inside cans of tomatoes which were used to make two types of tamales.
The record
Every field below is published by the FDA in the openFDA food enforcement database. Check the FDA notice before acting on any recall: this page is a reading of the public record, not a substitute for it.
- Product
- Tucson Tamale Blue Corn, Veggie & Cheese Tamales (2 Pack), 11 OZ (312g), plastic bag, UPC 8 53437 00233, Keep Frozen, 6 packs/box (case)
- UPC
- 85343700233
- Reason for recall
- Plastic pieces (1-2 cm) were discovered inside cans of tomatoes which were used to make two types of tamales.
- Recalling firm
- Tucson Tamale Wholesale Company, LLC
- Firm location
- Tucson, Arizona, United States
- Classification
- Class II
- Status
- Terminated
- Recall number
- F-0148-2021
- Quantity
- 129 - 2 packs
- Distribution
- Nationwide.
- Initiated
- 12 November 2020
- Reported by FDA
- 9 December 2020
- Terminated
- 3 March 2021
- Firm notified by
- Two or more of the following: Email, Fax, Letter, Press Release, Telephone, Visit
- Product codes
- Lot code: F20302 Exp 10/29/2022
Reading this record
Five things about this record are not in the record itself, and each one changes how it should be read.
- Class II means the FDA judged a remote probability of serious harm, or a probability of temporary or medically reversible harm. The class is assigned by an agency health hazard evaluation under 21 CFR 7.41, not by the firm.
- The firm started this recall itself. Most FDA food recalls are voluntary, and a recall is a food safety plan working rather than failing. The circumstances in which the agency asks for one instead are set out in 21 CFR 7.45.
- This is one of 2 records covering the same recall event. The FDA opens one enforcement record per product code, so a recall of a product line appears here many times. Counting these records as 2 separate recalls, which almost every published figure does, overstates it by a factor of 2. All 2 of them are listed on this page.
- The recall ran for 4 months, from 12 November 2020 to termination on 3 March 2021. Termination means the agency judged that all reasonable effort had been made, under 21 CFR 7.55, and it says nothing about whether product remained in circulation.
- The FDA published the enforcement report 4 weeks after the firm began the recall.
- Recalls of cheese run a median of 7 months, so this one was shorter than usual for its category. Cheese dominates Listeria recalls among dairy products because soft and semi-soft varieties hold enough moisture for the organism to grow at refrigeration temperature, and because most are eaten without any further cooking step.
What this recall was for
Foreign material
A foreign material recall means something that is not food was found in food: metal, plastic, glass, wood or insect matter, usually shed by equipment during processing.
A preventive controls plan covers foreign material under the clauses below. This is where the control belongs, not a finding against any firm named on this page: a recall record states a reason, and most of these recalls were initiated by the firm itself.
- 21 CFR 117.40
- Equipment and utensils: plant equipment designed and maintained so it cannot contaminate food with lubricants, fuel, metal fragments or contaminated water.
- 21 CFR 117.80(c)
- Manufacturing operations: the measures that protect food from contamination during processing, including the effective ones against metal and other extraneous material.
- 21 CFR 117.150
- Corrective actions: what a facility does when a preventive control was not properly implemented, including identifying and correcting the problem and evaluating the food for safety.
Filed under cheese. A product can sit in more than one.
Every product in this recall
The FDA opened 2 enforcement records for this one recall, one per product code. This page carries all of them; the 1 below each have their own page with that product’s lot codes and distribution, and search engines are pointed here for the recall as a whole.
| Reported | Product | Firm | Reason | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-12-09 | Tucson Tamale Blue Corn & Veggie Tamales (2 Pack), 11 OZ (312g), plastic bag, UPC 8 53437 00234, Keep Frozen, 6 packs/box (case) | Tucson Tamale Wholesale Company, LLC | Plastic pieces (1-2 cm) were discovered inside cans of tomatoes which were used to make two types of tamales. | Class II |
Other cheese recalls for the same reason
These are the closest records in the corpus: the same kind of food, recalled for a hazard this record also names. Unlike the firm’s own records below, they come from different companies, which is what makes them a pattern rather than a history.
Other records from Tucson Tamale Wholesale Company, LLC
The FDA opens one enforcement record per product code, so several of these are frequently one recall event.
| Reported | Product | Firm | Reason | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-12-09 | Tucson Tamale Blue Corn & Veggie Tamales (2 Pack), 11 OZ (312g), plastic bag, UPC 8 53437 00234, Keep Frozen, 6 packs/box (case) | Tucson Tamale Wholesale Company, LLC | Plastic pieces (1-2 cm) were discovered inside cans of tomatoes which were used to make two types of tamales. | Class II |
All 2020 recalls · All FDA food recall data
21 CFR 117.40 is the clause behind this recall, and it is one somebody has to produce evidence for at their next audit. Krolda maps supplier documents to the clause they satisfy in FSSC 22000, IFS Food and 21 CFR 117, and routes the corrective action when the evidence is missing.
Early accessRecall records come from the openFDA food enforcement API, published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the public domain. Krolda adds the hazard classification and the clause mapping; neither is an FDA determination. Always check the FDA notice before acting on a recall.