A pork barbecue recall from Louisburg, N.C.-based Murphy House involves2,850 pounds of pork barbecue products that may contain soy flour, an undeclared allergen. The recall, announced by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), affects 5-lbs. buckets of “The Murphy House premium pork barbecue; cooked, unskinned pork with barbecue sauce added.” Each package bears the establishment number “EST. 2135″ inside the USDA mark of inspection.
For people who have soy allergies, consuming soy products can cause sudden and severe allergic reaction like anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Potential allergens like soy products must be labeled on product packaging, according to the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004.
Anaphylaxis and allergic reaction facts:
- When people with allergies to certain foods consume those foods, their bodies treat them like foreign substances. Tissues in the body release substances like histamines. This causes muscle contractions that produce symptoms like: swelling of throat and mouth, wheezing and coughing, abdominal pain, nausea, drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness and possibly collapse, among other symptoms.
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes major allergens as follows, and requires that they are declared on product packaging: Milk, egg, fish (e.g., bass, flounder, or cod), Crustacean shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, or shrimp), tree nuts (e.g., almonds, pecans, or walnuts), wheat, peanuts, and soybeans
- Health officials estimate 5 percent of children and 2 percent of adults in the United States suffer from food allergies.
- About 30,000 people each year require emergency room treatment because of a food-related allergic reaction; and estimated 150 each year die from a food-related allergic reaction.
The pork barbecue products were sent to distributors and restaurants in the North Carolina region. The labeling problem was discovered during a review of operations by FSIS at the the Murphy House establishment. Those concerned about an allergic reaction should contact a physician.
