Ground Turmeric packaged as follows: a) FOOD LOCKER(R) , 16 oz, PHENIX FOOD SERVICE…
J M Exotic Foods Inc recalled this product and the FDA reported the enforcement action on 22 March 2017 as Class I. The recall was initiated by the firm. The firm received a notice from their supplier that a sample of ground turmeric was tested and found to have elevated levels of lead.
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
- Ground Turmeric packaged as follows: a) FOOD LOCKER(R) , 16 oz, PHENIX FOOD SERVICE, PHENIX CITY, AL 36867 b) Ground Turmeric, Net Wt. 4 oz.,
- Reason for recall
- The firm received a notice from their supplier that a sample of ground turmeric was tested and found to have elevated levels of lead.
- Recalling firm
- J M Exotic Foods Inc
- Firm location
- Moody, Alabama, United States
- Classification
- Class I
- Status
- Terminated
- Recall number
- F-1613-2017
- Quantity
- 468 units
- Distribution
- GA, AL
- Initiated
- 2 August 2016
- Reported by FDA
- 22 March 2017
- Terminated
- 29 March 2017
- Firm notified by
- Telephone
- Product codes
- a) Lot number: 16110118 b) Lot numbers: 16131185, 16165184
Reading this record
Five things about this record are not in the record itself, and each one changes how it should be read.
- Class I means the FDA judged a reasonable probability that the product would cause serious health consequences or death. 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 record is the only one the FDA opened for its recall event, so it covers a single product code.
- The recall ran for 8 months, from 2 August 2016 to termination on 29 March 2017. 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 distribution pattern names 2 states, and the FDA published the enforcement report 8 months after the firm began the recall.
- Recalls of a spice or seasoning run a median of 6 months, so this one was about typical for its category. Spices are a low-moisture, globally sourced, minimally processed ingredient that is added after any kill step, which is the combination that makes Salmonella in a spice lot capable of contaminating every product it was blended into.
Named in the distribution pattern: Georgia, Alabama. Those pages count recalls by where the RECALLING FIRM sits, which is a different question from where this product went.
What this recall was for
Chemical contamination
A chemical contamination recall covers a substance that is harmful in food and was never meant to be there: a heavy metal, a cleaning chemical, a pesticide residue, or a natural toxin such as aflatoxin or histamine.
A preventive controls plan covers chemical contamination 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 117.35(b)
- Substances used in cleaning and sanitizing: toxic materials stored, identified and used so they cannot contaminate food, food-contact surfaces or packaging.
- 21 CFR 117 subpart G
- Supply-chain programme: the approval and verification a receiving facility runs on a supplier when the hazard is controlled before the ingredient arrives.
- 21 CFR 117.130(b)(1)(ii)
- Hazard analysis: identifying the known or reasonably foreseeable chemical hazards, including radiological hazards, pesticide and drug residues, natural toxins and food decomposition.
Filed under spices and seasonings. A product can sit in more than one.
Other spices and seasonings 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 J M Exotic Foods Inc
The FDA opens one enforcement record per product code, so several of these are frequently one recall event.
| Reported | Product | Firm | Reason | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-01-25 | WOOD FARMS Ranch dressing, EX418, NET WT: 6.4 oz, UPC 9172850097 | J M Exotic Foods Inc | Spice blends were manufactured using dried buttermilk which was subsequently recalled due to positive Salmonella results on environmental sampling. | Class I |
| 2017-01-25 | Tupperware, Southwest Chipotle Seasoning, Assaisonnement Chipotle du sud-ouest, NET WT. 2.0 OZ. (56g) | J M Exotic Foods Inc | Spice blends were manufactured using dried buttermilk which was subsequently recalled due to positive Salmonella results on environmental sampling. | Class I |
All 3 records for J M Exotic Foods Inc
All 2017 recalls · All FDA food recall data
21 CFR 117.35(b) 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.