Popular Holiday Candy Issued FDA’s Highest Recall Alert
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a high alert this week about last month’s voluntary recall of a Christmas candy due to an undeclared allergen.
Potential milk allergens led the Weaver Nut Company to recall 849 cases of Weaver Chocolates Semi-Sweet Chocolate Nonpareils with white seeds and 1760 cases of Weaver Chocolates Semi Sweet Chocolate Nonpareils with Christmas seeds that had been distributed to 14 states.
“People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume the impacted products,” a June 18 FDA alert said.A July 8 FDA enforcement udpate states that the FDA has assigned the recall a Class 1 designation.A Class 1 event is the FDA’s highest risk alert and is described on the FDA website as having a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
“In a Class 1 recall, they have responsibilities to actively mitigate the spread of potentially contaminated food product including removing the recalled product from available inventory, segregating the product to avoid accidental resale or use, and if possible, instituting a fail safe, like blocking the products’ bar code from scanning so the product cannot be scanned and sold,” food industry expert and Fruit Slabs CEO Brandon Dorsky told NTD.
The FDA further stated that the confection was distributed in New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, West Virginia, Minnesota, and Arizona.
The Weaver Nut Company is an importer, distributor, and manufacturer of candies, chocolates, and confections as well as spices, dried fruits, nuts, coffees, and teas.
Company leaders did not respond to requests for comment by the time this report was published.
One of the pair of Weaver chocolate candies that were recalled on June 17 by the Weaver Nut Company. Photo courtesy of FDA
“The issue was discovered through a wholesale customer complaint upon receipt of shipment [that was] misaligned with updated product [specifications] followed by a lab test to confirm the milk presence,” the FDA said.
Lots in question include 204206, 204207, 204208, 204209, and 204212, 224225 for the Christmas-seeded nonpareil semi-sweet chocolates and Lots 204214-RL, 204214, 204215, 224221, 224222, 224223, 135215, 135216, 135217, 135220, 135221, 145204, 145205-1, 145207-1, and 145210-1 for the white-seeded nonpareils, semi-sweet chocolates.
“Elevating the categorization of the recall to Class 1 indicates the likelihood of harm to human health remains high and human consumption could cause irreversible damage,” Dorsky added.
The FDA urged consumers who have purchased either or both of the products and have a milk allergy not to consume them and if sensitive to milk allergy, the product should be discarded immediately or returned for a full refund at the place of purchase.
