Cantina Foods, a Buffalo, N.Y. establishment, is recalling approximately 2,375 pounds of ready-to-eat beef and cheese pie products because they were produced without the benefit of federal inspection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The following products are subject to recall:
Cartons containing four clear plastic bags with six 4-oz. "Beef and Cheese Pastellios" in each bag.
There are no labels or marks of inspection on the bags or cartons. The products were produced and sold from Oct. 3, 2012 through Nov. 20, 2012 and distributed to retail establishments in the Buffalo, N.Y. region. The individual pies may have been available for sale from heat trays at convenience stores.
The company had requested to voluntarily suspend its operations in September, 2012 after a food safety assessment by FSIS identified problems with the firm's Listeria monocytogenes control program. Through their investigation, FSIS enforcement personnel identified the products in commerce and determined that the company had produced them without the benefit of inspection.
FSIS has received no reports of illness due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.
FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify that recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that recalled product is no longer available to consumers.
Consumers and members of the media who have questions regarding the recall can contact the company's owner, Toumet Koury, at (716) 602-3536.
Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.
