Last Thursday, both Bumble Bee Foods and Tri-Union Seafoods issued voluntary recalls of their canned tuna citing concerns that the product could have spoiled.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea brands were recalled due to “deviations in the commercial sterilization process” that “could lead to life-threatening illness if consumed.”
Now, grocery chain H-E-B has also announced a voluntary recall of more than 10,000 cans of its Hill County Fare brand tuna. Like the previous two canned tuna recalls, the FDA said that H-E-B’s product could be contaminated due to deviations in the commercial sterilization process.
However, what’s odd is that according to both an FDA release and the company’s own website the recall was actually initiated on March 18 — meaning that this recall occurred the same week as the recalls for the Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee brands.
According to H-E-B, the Hill County Fare brand recall only affects cans sold in Texas stores between Feb. 24 and March 16.
Although all three companies reported similar process deviations, Bumble Bee and H-E-B did note that the “deviation” occurred at third party plants.
According to Food Dive, the Chicken of the Sea recall, the largest with more than 100,000 recalled cans, occurred at a Tri-Union Seafoods facility in Georgia.
There have been no reported illnesses, to date, in connection to any of the recalled products.
Why do you think H-E-B failed to publicize their canned tuna sooner? Comment below or tweet me @AbbDean.
