Two Recalls—One Silly, One Serious

Let’s start with the funny one.  It sounds like a joke, but it isn’t.  Still, feel free to laugh since no illnesses have been reported from it.  The name of the product being recalled is—I kid you not—Toxic Waste® Nuclear Sludge® Chew Bars.  Mouth-watering moniker, no?  This item is imported from Pakistan, so perhaps something got lost in translation.

What’s wrong with these chew bars? In a word, lead.  Imagine that—lead in your sludge. The lead was found in only one flavor, the cherry (due to the red dye), but that’s more than enough. One lot was found to have .24 parts per million; the FDA acceptable limit is .1 parts per million.  Lead, of course, has the potential to cause health problems, especially for infants, young children, and pregnant women. (Although I don’t fall into any of these categories, I, for one, will have no trouble resisting this product.)

This assuredly delicious imported chew bar is marketed by Circle City Marketing and Distributors, an Indianapolis, Indiana firm that trades as Candy Dynamics.  Although lead was found only in the cherry flavor (there are also blueberry and sour apple Nuclear Sludge), the company has issued a recall on all lots and flavors distributed from 2007 on. 

Nuclear Sludge candies were distributed to stores nationwide and also sold by mail. The problem with lead was discovered by the Californian Department of Public Health.  Candy Dynamic says that its other Toxic Waste candies (marketed online at being “hazardly sour”) are not involved in this recall. 

If  your taste buds are into extreme experiment, and you happen to have any of these chew bars in your possession, click here for more information and call Eileen O’Neal at 317-228-5012 weekdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.  (Let’s hope, for her sake, that she hasn’t been extensively dining on her employer’s product.)

Now on to another recall that, thankfully, has caused no reported illnesses but is worthy of attention because the contaminated product could be fatal.  Mama Rose’s Gourmet Food of Phoenix, Arizona, has recalled these 5 products:

Mama Rose’s Cilantro Con Queso

Mama Rose’s Garlic Con Queso

Mama Rose’s Viper Venom Con Queso

Mama Rose’s Hope Corn Salsa

Fred Harvey Hopi Corn Salsa

These products have the potential of being contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria that can cause botulism. For more information about the symptoms of botulism and the particular code and lot numbers involved in this recall, click here.

By the way, if anyone knows what delicious dish can be made with viper venom, please let me know. Meanwhile, I’m thinking of stirring it into my Nuclear Sludge and feeding it to my enemies. 

Source(s):

fda.gov “Candy Dynamics Recalls Toxic Waste brand Nuclear Sludge Chew Bars all flavors—Net wt. 0.7 oz (20 g) package”
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm240012.htm

fda.gov “Mama Rose’s Gourmet Foods Recalls Cilantro Con Queso, Garlic Con Queso, Viper Venom Con Queso, and Hopi Corn Salsa Because of Possible Health Risk”
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm240560.htm

medicalnewstoday.com “Toxic Waste Bars Have Hazardous Levels of Led, Recalled”
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/213822.php

huffingtonpost.com “’Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Chew Bars’ Recalled Over Immense Lead Content”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/toxic-waste-nuclear-sludge-chew-bars-lead-recall_n_809244.html