Sopakco Sure-Pak 12 MRE Recall

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kman
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Sopakco Sure-Pak 12 MRE Recall

Post by kman » Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:44 pm

On January 27, 2009, Sopakco, In. released the following recall for their Sure-Pak 12 civilian MREs:
SOPAKCO, Inc. Announces a Nationwide Recall of Certain SURE-PAK 12 Meals Containing Peanut Butter Products

Contact:
SOPAKCO, Inc.
423-278-1437

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Mullins, SC (January 27, 2009) -- SOPAKCO, Inc., of Mullins, South Carolina, is voluntarily recalling certain Sure-Pak 12 Meals because peanut butter packages in the Meals may have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Image

Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

This recall follows the announcement of recent recalls by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) and Boca Grande Foods Inc. indicating peanut products from PCA have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Boca Grande Foods manufactured peanut butter with peanut paste from PCA, and supplied sealed peanut butter packages to SOPAKCO. The Sure-Pak 12 Meals with the lot numbers listed below contain 1 oz. or 2 oz. packages of peanut butter recalled by Boca Grande Foods. The recalled Sure-Pak 12 Meals were sold by SOPAKCO to distributors and costomers nationwide and several foreign countries. Some of the Sure-Pak 12 Meals were sold at stores specializing in emergency preparedness and camping gear and rations.

SOPAKCO is not aware of any reported illnesses involving Sure-Pak 12 Meals. However, as a precautionary measure, SOPAKCO is recalling Sure-Pak 12 Meals with the following lot numbers (located on the cases of product):
  • 8261
    8278
    8285
    8287
    8294
    8320
    8322
    8330
    8350
    8357
    8358
    9003
    9012
Customers are asked to take all Sure-Pak 12 Meals manufactured with the lot numbers listed above out of distribution immediately. This recall does not affect any other products or lot numbers made by SOPAKCO. Other lots of Sure-Pak 12 Meals may contain peanut butter packages, including 1.12 oz. packages from Boca Grande Foods; however, peanut butter packages in those Sure-Pak 12 Meals were obtained from sources which have not been linked to any Salmonella contamination.

Customers who received any products affected by this recall will be contacted directly by a SOPAKCO customer service representative. Customers with questions or concerns about the recall may contact SOPAKCO at 423-278-1437 for further information on what to do with the product.
[Link to official FDA notice]

Lot Numbers = Date Packed

In the case of Sopakco Sure-Pak 12 MREs, the lot number is the same as the "date packed" or date of manufacture. These datecodes can be read as ordinal numbers where the first number is year and the next three numbers are the day of the year. So a datecode of "8261" would indicate a year of 2008, day 261 - or September 18, 2008.

So it looks like the recalled Sure-Pak MREs were produced between September 18, 2008 and January 12, 2009.

I've put up an official MREInfo.com webpage on this same subject here:

http://www.mreinfo.com/civilian/mre/sop ... ecall.html

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kman
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Re: Sopakco Sure-Pak 12 MRE Recall

Post by kman » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:44 am

Update:
The Epicenter just posted a picture of what the affected peanut butter packets look like. Apparently, the recall isn't for the military-style of peanut butter but instead is for the packets that look like this:
bad-peanutbutter.gif
Bad Peanut Butter Packet
bad-peanutbutter.gif (18.79 KiB) Viewed 29586 times

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Bypah
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Re: Sopakco Sure-Pak 12 MRE Recall

Post by Bypah » Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:05 am

Thanks kman for posting it.... :D I was going to open a similar thread a bout a second ago... :roll:
So far the recall has no military or MRE's related products.... :wink:
Peace!
8)
"Live long and prosper..."

Biltong
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Re: Sopakco Sure-Pak 12 MRE Recall

Post by Biltong » Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:02 am

If there was a need for a recall for the military issue MRE's, would it be passed on to the general public?

brachiopod
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Re: Sopakco Sure-Pak 12 MRE Recall

Post by brachiopod » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:54 pm

Yeah, it is so far for just the civilian versions. I have 2 of the recalled cases from The Epicenter, and they have been exceptionally good about contacting me and keeping me informed. This has to be a huge pain for them actually , and they are doing a good job. As a business owner myself I feel sorry for them with this situation. I'm just sitting tight to hear what the options will be, frankly I'd just assume open them all and throw the PB out vs. ship all this stuff back to Sopakco and wait for a replacement; shipping is expensive on a case of MREs these days and it is just some peanut butter. Sopakco seems to be dumping this all on the distributors.

One other thing, it sounds like this plant has been having problems for a LONG time, and I wonder how far back this will eventually go. I've got plenty of 5 year old MREs in my stash.

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Re: Sopakco Sure-Pak 12 MRE Recall

Post by Garron » Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:10 pm

I don't really eat the peanut butter in MRE's so it wouldn't bother me, but in all the economic crisis this cannot be good for buisness with the reduced ammount of trade shops are experiencing anyway.

Gaz

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