Nobody’s gotten sick, as far as food safety folks know. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s discovery of salmonella in a 100-gram pouch of “Dairyshake” powder (not for retail sale) prompted a search for the source of the contamination. That led to the identification of a key supplier, Plainview Milk Products Cooperative in southeastern Minnesota, where inspectors discovered equipment contaminated with the harmful pathogen, according to a news release from the Food and Drug Administration.

The recall includes two years’ worth of “instant nonfat dried milk, whey protein, fruit stabilizers, and gums (thickening agents)” none of which were sold directly to the public. No products have yet been pulled from store shelves, but a raft of federal and state agencies are looking into the situation. It’s clear that they’re eager to show an aggressive response, following the widespread criticism of the nation’s food safety and response network prompted by the peanut contamination earlier this year. “This recall is an appropriate precaution to protect public health,” said David W.K. Acheson, M.D., associate commissioner for foods in the Food and Drug Administration, in the FDA news release.

Plainview’s web page provides this history of the venerable dairy co-op:

Plainview Milk Products Cooperative was established in 1899 in Plainview, MN as a dairy cooperative servicing local patrons. Historically, cooperatives and granges were formed by communities as vehicles to market their products and serve as a source of community support. We have enjoyed our position as a true cooperative in Plainview and the surrounding region and are proud and pleased that we have managed to retain our identity as an independent coop. In retaining our identity, we are able to maintain direct contact with all our patrons and conduct business in a manner which consistently performs in their best interests.

Dairyshake powder, it seems, is a common ingredient of those notorious military meals, MREs.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 2:45 pm and is filed under Dangerous products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.