We have been following the large outbreak and recall linked to Daniele Inc. salami products since the middle of January.  The outbreak began in July 2009, but was not discovered until January 2010.  Two strains of Salmonella–Montevideo and Senftenberg–are known to have been involved.  The recall began on January 23, 2010, with Daniele’s recall of 1,263,754 pounds of salami products, eventually expanded to include almost 1.3 million pounds of salami products.  Now, nearly a month and a half after the outbreak and recall was announced, and after a total of 245 confirmed illnesses have been reported nationally, the FDA is announcing that Mincing Overseas Spice Company of Dayton, NJ, has recalled its black pepper product.  After a little further research, it appears that Mincing Overseas actually began recalling its products back on February 25, 2010.

Earlier today, I indicated that the Mincing recall did not occur until today, but it appears that that statement was incorrect.  See Mincing’s February 26, 2010 statement.  Only the FDA’s announcement of the recall occurred today.  But if that’s the case, isn’t it a little concerning that the FDA, one of the two federal agencies whose job is, in part at least, protecting the public’s health didn’t announce Mincing’s recall until today, two weeks after the the company initially announced the recall?  Maybe I’m missing the FDA’s earlier recall notice . . .