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New data collected by Stericycle, a company that handles recalls for businesses, shows a sharp jump in the number of recalls of organic food products. Organic food products accounted for 7 percent of all food units recalled so far this year, compared with 2 percent of those recalled last year.
Kevin Pollack, a vice president at Stericycle, said the growing consumer and corporate demand for organic ingredients was at least partly responsible for the increase.
“What’s striking is that since 2012, all organic recalls have been driven by bacterial contamination, like salmonella, listeria and hepatitis A, rather than a problem with a label,” Mr. Pollack said. “This is a fairly serious and really important issue because a lot of consumers just aren’t aware of it.”
The Organic Trade Association, however, took issue with Stericycle’s accounting of recalls, saying its own quick analysis of recall data from the F.D.A. and the Agriculture Department shows the problem is less severe, with organic products accounting for 4.9 percent of recalls, in line with the percentage of organic food sold out of total retail sales of food.
Bill Marler, a lawyer in Washington State who is an expert on food safety issues, noted that a single large recall involving tens of thousands of products may cause distortions in the data. “Is it a spike or a trend?” he said. “You have to watch what happens over time.”
Read full, original post: Recalls of Organic Food on the Rise, Report Says