Darn It! More Chocolate Related Recalls

Here I am, the day of my birthday party (not my birthday itself) and instead of just celebrating all day, I have to share these chocolate-related recalls with you. You know the drill by now, chocolate lovers. If you live in the USA, follow the links to find the full details. If you live someone else, consult your country's own food and beverage safety agencies to protect you and your loved ones.

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Fried Chicken Recall?

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – September 19, 2023 – Life Raft Treats is expanding their recall of their Not Fried Chicken 64 oz bucket, Not Fried Chicken 2.5 oz bar UPC 8 60006 18210 6 and Life Is Peachy 6 count box ice cream products, to include the BEST BY DATES up to and including AUG 08282024 due to a potential contamination of Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, a Listeria monocytogenes infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

On September 18, 2023, the firm was notified by South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) that they needed to include an additional lot of their Not Fried Chicken ice cream treat which also test positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The firm also decided to recall their Life Is Peachy Ice Cream treats because both products were manufactured in the same room.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

Products affected are:

The recalling firm began shipping recalled products on 8/28/2023. These products were packaged in laminated buckets and plastic wrap and shipped via Goldbelly.com online directly to consumers located in AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA & WI.

Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them and to return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund or they may discard the product. Consumers with questions may contact the firm via email recall@liferafttreats.com or telephone us at (843) 695-9806 M-F 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST.

This recall is being made with the knowledge of the Food and Drug Administration.

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Cake Slices Recall

David’s Cookies is recalling 960 units of “Marketside Chocolate Chip Explosion Cake” lot # BS23212 that has been sold in Walmart retail stores across the country.

This recall is due to that the 960 units of “Marketside Ultimate Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake” ware mislabeled with a label as “Marketside Chocolate Chip Explosion Cake” a name that does not depict peanut as a key ingredient and does not declare the peanut allergen warning on the label.

The product is in a 7-ounce, clear plastic package marked with lot # BS23212 on the top of the package. Photo below:

No illnesses or injuries have been reported to date in connection with this mislabel. If there are any consumers with concerns about illness or injury associated with this product, please contact a physician immediately.

Subsequent investigation indicates the problem was caused at the labeling & packaging stage.

In coordination with Walmart, they have blocked all Marketside Ultimate Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake and Marketside Chocolate Chip Explosion Cake from their distribution centers and store registers, so no consumer is able to purchase either of these products until further investigation and resolutions have been completed by David’s Cookies and Walmart.

Consumers who have purchased the 7.9 oz Marketside Chocolate Chip Explosion Cake, lot # BS23212, are urged to return them to the location of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact David’s Cookies at 800-500-2800. Business hours are from 8:30 am to 5:00 am, DST Eastern time zone.

The Walmart distribution center distributing the mislabeled product has been identified and David’s Cookies and Walmart will continue to work to correct the situation and prevent further shipments to stores.

Extra Crunchy Monster Cookie is Really Granola

I've reviewed to Bakery on Main granolas in the past for all of you. Today I'm reviewing a third, one that has chocolate but is not focused on chocolate. Their Monster Cookie Decadent Granola was given to me in the form of a coupon for one freebie bag via the Social Nature group I'm part of. In exchange I was to write review on that website and Tweet about it; today's article is a bonus. Since I received no other form of compensation, I'm going to be 100% honest as I always am with you all.

Have you had a "monster cookie" before? Monster cookies should have a certain flavor and these are fairly close to them. Usually this type of cookie is a basic dough that you add several different treats to like candies, baking chips, and peanuts. This has mini chocolate chips, but sprinkles and almonds instead; luckily the almonds didn't overwhelm the other flavors. I really missed the mini-candies in this because that would have added more chocolate.

About half the bag was this roundish nuggets while the other half was loose granola. It is very crunchy and dry; both expected qualities of granola in my experience. The resealable bag is nice, but once you open it you'll want to eat it relatively soon since, at least in my house, it seem to attract moisture and lose some of the crunch.

In terms of chocolate, I wish there was more here, so for our purposes on The Chocolate Cult, it doesn't reach sacrament status. In terms of granolas that I've had, this ranks quite hit because it delivers a taste quite close to the title: Monster Cookie.

Inexpensive Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats

In winter 2023, I earned a free product at my local Kroger so I picked the 17 ounce bag of Malt-O-Meal® Cocoa Dyno-Bites® Cereal. This is similar to but not identical to crispy rice cereals you may be familiar with, but we'll discuss that in a moment. Today I want to share how I tested them because one of those ways was as an ingredient in rice crispy treats for two of the three people in my family. Since this was free, I picked the two other additional ingredients to be less expensive as well so I included Kroger brand mini marshmallows and on sale Blue Bonnet margarine. That is all it takes to make goodie in time for Rice Krispies Treat Day on September 18th.

The Malt-O-Meal® Cocoa Dyno-Bites® Cereal on its own had a good cocoa scent to it, it was not puffed but flat crispy rice, and as you can see these are tiny pieces.  They were crunchy and had an expected amount of chocolatey flavor when eaten solo.

I used the recipe on the back of the mini marshmallows to make the treats and the results were too marshmallowly for our preference but still good. Not only were they too sticky but the sweet of the marshmallows really hurt the intensity of the cocoa krispies. Your preference will vary so experiment. Since these are lower priced than big brand named versions, you can afford to do so. Not only that, but the bag is resealable, actually resealable as you can see in our final photo below.

Way to My Heart Summer 2023 Part 2

The same wonderful friend sent me more chocolates she found on a trip to Canada.

I have a dear friend who has lived in Vancouver for his entire life plus two other friends who moved into the area recently, so sometimes I get some gifts of chocolate from the North. None of them were these brands that my friend sent.

The problem was that it has been very hot and humid and that affected some of these gifts. That is not my friend's fault, but I did want to take the opportunity to show you all what heat can do to chocolate. That discoloration is a sign of fat bloom causing by heating and cooling of chocolate after it has been fully processed. What you can do is to remelt it and mix it well. It won't taste perfect it may still be good to use.

Sugar bloom will have crystals on it from being exposed to moisture. I have yet to find a way for the average consumer to salvage that at home.

Sirene Coastal Rainforest 73% Chocolate Bar

Let's start with the big yellow bar. This is from Sirene and is their 73% dark Coastal Rainforest bar. I got a strong dark chocolate flavor plus a lot of citrus that made me suspect that might be single origin. However the bar didn't say it. Surprisingly it said it included kelp, mushroom, and current... okay. Before I read that on the back, I would have never guessed that I'd like the flavor of such a bar. I suspect that these added ingredients and the packaging in just wax paper and cardboard made it more susceptible to overheating compared to the next bar.

Heart Industries Maple Cream Milk Chocolate Bar

Next the Maple Cream Milk Chocolate Bar from Heart Industries is proudly Canadian. This bar was wrapped in a more traditional way, paper with a metallic outside and then a paper branded band over that. It didn't get damaged at all by the travel to my house. It had a strong maple scent as soon as I opened it. Each of the six sections held a sweet maple cream that wasn't as strong as the scent. I think this would have even better with a dark chocolate competing for my taste buds.

The Turkey Hill bars came in two flavors -- Coffee one which I gave to our Mocha acolyte for her enjoyment and a Ice Wine one that I was excited to try. 

Turkey Hill Bars

This was a smooth yet clearly dark chocolate with a cool and sweet red wine flavor. I'm surprised by how much I liked it since I'm not a usually a red wine fan. Of the three bars I ate, this was my favorite one, hands down.

Turkey Hill Icewine Chocolate Bar

Chocolate Recalls for September 3, 2023

Here we go with more chocolate related recalls.

You know the drill.

If you live in the USA, follow the links to learn more.

If you live elsewhere, check with your nation's own food safety agency.

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Ice Cream House Recalls

The Ice Cream House is voluntarily recalling all Dairy Ice Cream Products and Non-dairy [Parve] frozen Dessert products due to potential health risk in regards to Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

The products being recalled were sold at the Ice Cream House in Brooklyn and through retail supermarkets in New York, New Jersey and Ohio

This recall is related to the Soft Serve on the go cups which had been previously recalled by Real Kosher Ice Cream, Inc where two cases of illnesses have been reported in this outbreak in two states (NY and PA.) Both individuals were hospitalized but no deaths have been reported to date. The company has ceased the production and distribution of the products as the investigation is ongoing. 

Recalled products include all Ice Cream House branded items currently on the market. This includes all Dairy and Non-Dairy [Parve] products, like ice creams, cakes, logs and novelty items with the “Ice Cream House” logo. Products are packed in clamshells or cake trays with plastic dome covers in a variety of sizes and styles and has an Ice Cream House label as seen below. Recalled products are not labeled with lot or date codes.

Products involved in the recall should be discarded or returned to the original point of purchase for a full refund or replacement.

Ice Cream has a long shelf life and may still be in the freezers of consumers. Consumers should check their freezers and throw away the recalled ice cream products or return it to the place of purchase.

If you have questions or concerns, please email us at:ICHrecall@gmail.com or call 845-445-7644 Monday through Thursday 9-5.

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Weis Ice Cream Recall

Sunbury, PA (AUGUST 31, 2023) – Weis Markets Inc. of Sunbury, PA today said it is recalling containers of Weis Quality Brownie Moose Tracks Ice Cream (48oz) because the product may contain undeclared EGG. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to EGG run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume this product.

Product was distributed to all 197 Weis Markets’ retail stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and West Virginia.

The ice cream is packaged in a round container with a UPC of 041497-01194. All sell by dates are included in the recall as a precaution. Sell by dates are located on the bottom of the container.  An example of the container and lid has been included with this release.

There have been no illnesses reported to date.

The recall was initiated after it was discovered that the product may contain trace amounts of EGG due to processing on shared equipment in error.

Customers who have purchased this product may return the product to the store it was purchased for a full refund.

Customers requiring additional information may contact Weis Customer Service at 1-866-999-9347 Monday through Friday 8am-5pm EST.