Ground spice from Nigeria under recall; no codes on product labels

A spice product imported into Canada from Nigeria is under recall because government testing showed possible contamination with Salmonella bacteria.

MyChopChop, which has offices in Ontario, sold the recalled “Grounded Peper” to consumers nationwide via the internet, according to a recall notice posted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The agency reported that as of the posting of the notice no reports of confirmed illnesses had been reported in connection with the recalled product.

Because of the long shelf life of dry spices, public health officials are concerned there may be consumers who have the recalled spice product in their homes. Anyone who has such spice in their homes that is not still in its original package should discard it because they won’t be able to determine whether it is the recalled product.

All MyChopChop brand “Grounded Peper” sold up to and including June 3 is included in the recall. The CFIA notice did not include any information about date codes and a product photo posted with the notice does not show any date codes.

The recall notice says there arent any codes of any kind on the implicated product, which is sold in 100-gram plastic packets.

“This recall was triggered by Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) test results. The CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products,” according to the recall notice.

Information about Salmonella infections
Food that is contaminated with Salmonella bacteria usually does not look, smell or taste spoiled. Anyone can become sick with a Salmonella infection, but infants, children, seniors and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness because their immune systems are fragile, according to the CDC.

Anyone who has eaten any of the recalled product and developed symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek medical attention. Sick people should tell their doctors about the possible exposure to Salmonella bacteria because special tests are necessary to diagnose salmonellosis. Salmonella infection symptoms can mimic other illnesses, frequently leading to misdiagnosis.

Symptoms of Salmonella infection can include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. Otherwise healthy adults are usually sick for four to seven days. In some cases, however, diarrhea may be so severe that patients need to be hospitalized. 

Older adults, children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients, are more likely to develop a severe illness and serious, sometimes life-threatening conditions.

It is possible for some people to be infected with the bacteria and to not get sick or show any symptoms, but to still be able to spread the infection to others.

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