‘Honest mistake’ sparks pig fat recall
Jorge Velazquez is new to the business and ordered milk products from Mexico containing sodium nitrate that were not declared on the product label in the US.
This sparked the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to issue a recall of the products due to “misbranding and undeclared allergens”.
George Velazquez, operations manager at the Santa Ana, California-based business Chicharonnes J&J, said the undeclared allergens were an “honest mistake” made by his father, who runs the business.
No sickness reports
Velazquez told this site his father, who speaks limited English, ordered milk products from Mexico that contained sodium nitrate, but failed to add the ingredient to the labels of the company’s rendered animal fat products.
The USDA claimed the products were manufactured on various dates between 16 June 2016 and 12 October 2016, and shipped to various retail locations in California.
There have been no confirmed reports of illness or adverse reactions due to consumption of these products, the USDA said in a statement.
The USDA and FSIS urged people who had bought these products not to consume them. Instead, the products should either be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
The recalled products:
1lb, 2lb and 3lb plastic tubs of Chicharrones J&J Rendered Animal Fat. The products subject to the recall bear establishment number “EST. 31638”.
