Craft Food Group Recalls Several Brands of Cottage Cheese

Kraft Foods Group Voluntarily Recalls Select Cottage Cheese

Products Due to Out-of-Standard Storage Temperatures

Certain Knudsen Cottage Cheese, Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese, Simply Kraft

Cottage Cheese and Daily Chef Cottage Cheese Products Included in the Recall

Kraft Foods Group is voluntarily recalling select Knudsen Cottage Cheese,Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese, and Daily Chef Cottage Cheese products. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions that could lead to premature spoilage and/or foodborne illness; therefore, the company is issuing the recall as a precaution. The affected products all have code dates from May 9, 2014 through July 23, 2014.

Approximately 1.2 million cases of affected product were shipped to customers across the United States. The affected products were not distributed outside of the United States.

The following varieties are being recalled:

Product Size	Name of Product	Code Dates only from Plant 06-245	Package Code	Case Code
3.9Z	BREAKSTONE'S COTTAGE DOUBLES PINEAPPLE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000006670 or 02166700	00 21000 00667 00
3.9Z	BREAKSTONE'S COTTAGE DOUBLES STRAWBERRY	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000006687 or 02166807	00 21000 00668 00
3.9Z	BREAKSTONE'S COTTAGE DOUBLES PEACH	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000006694 or 02166904	00 21000 00669 00
3.9Z	BREAKSTONE'S COTTAGE DOUBLES BLUEBERRY	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000006700 or 02167000	00 21000 00670 00
3.9Z	BREAKSTONE'S COTTAGE DOUBLES APPLE CINNAMON	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000006717 or 02167107	00 21000 00671 00
3.9Z	BREAKSTONE'S COTTAGE DOUBLES RASPBERRY	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000007134 or 02171304	00 21000 00713 00
3.9Z	BREAKSTONE'S COTTAGE DOUBLES MANGO	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000007141 or 02171401	00 21000 00714 00
16Z	SIMPLY KRAFT COTTAGE CHEESE 4% SMALL CURD	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000034574	00 21000 03457 00
16Z	SIMPLY KRAFT COTTAGE CHEESE 2% SMALL CURD	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000034628	00 21000 03462 00
24Z	SIMPLY KRAFT FAT FREE COTTAGE CHEESE SMALL CURD	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000034758	00 21000 03475 00
24Z	SIMPLY KRAFT 2% COTTAGE CHEESE SMALL CURD	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000034765	00 21000 03476 00
24Z	SIMPLY KRAFT 4% COTTAGE CHEESE SMALL CURD	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000034772	00 21000 03477 00
4-4Z	BREAKSTONE'S COTTAGE CHEESE SMALL CURD 2%	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000123827	00 21000 12382 00
3.9Z	KNUDSEN COTTAGE DOUBLES PEACH	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900000093 or 04990933	00 49900 00009 00
3.9Z	KNUDSEN COTTAGE DOUBLES STRAWBERRY	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900000109 or 04991039	00 49900 00010 00
3.9Z	KNUDSEN COTTAGE DOUBLES PINEAPPLE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900000116 or 04991136	00 49900 00011 00
8Z	KNUDSEN 2% LOW FAT COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900000147 or 04991437	00 49900 00014 00
8Z	KNUDSEN 4% COTTAGE CHEESE SMALL CURD	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900000154 or 04991534	00 49900 00015 00
3.9Z	KNUDSEN COTTAGE CHEESE DOUBLES BLUEBERRY	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900000161 or 04991631	00 49900 00016 00
3.9Z	KNUDSEN COTTAGE DOUBLES RASPBERRY	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900000253 or 04992533	00 49900 00025 00
3.9Z	KNUDSEN COTTAGE DOUBLES MANGO	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900000260 or 04992630	00 49900 00026 00
4-4Z	KNUDSEN LOWFAT COTTAGE CHEESE AND PINEAPPLE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	04990000112	00 49900 00118 00
16Z	KNUDSEN FREE NON-FAT COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900100205	00 49900 10020 00
4-4Z	KNUDSEN LOW FAT COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900102001	00 49900 10030 00
32Z	KNUDSEN FREE NON-FAT COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900100601	00 49900 10060 00
16Z	KNUDSEN LOWFAT COTTAGE CHEESE AND PINEAPPLE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900302708	00 49900 30270 00
32Z	KNUDSEN COTTAGE CHEESE SMALL CURD	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900342643	00 49900 34264 00
16Z	KNUDSEN COTTAGE CHEESE SMALL CURD	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900342728	00 49900 34270 00
16Z	KNUDSEN LOW FAT COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900345040	00 49900 34506 00
3LB	KNUDSEN LOW FAT COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900346306	00 49900 34630 00
32Z	KNUDSEN LOW FAT COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	049900347020	00 49900 34702 00
3LB	DAILY CHEF LOW FAT COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	078742043487	00 78742 04348 00
5LB	DAILY CHEF REGULAR COTTAGE CHEESE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	078742043494	00 78742 04349 00
4-4Z	BREAKSTONE'S LOWFAT COTTAGE CHEESE WITH PINEAPPLE	09 MAY 2014 to 23 JUL 2014 Plant 06-245	021000025251	00 21000 02525 00

Consumers can find the code date on the bottom of the cup or the top of the package. Simply Kraft products with a plant code of 36-2158 on the cups or a "W" in the case code (e.g., "W 21 JUL 2014") are not affected. Simply Kraft products subject to the recall are only those with a plant code of 06-245 on the bottom of the cup and case code date without any "W" (e.g., "21 JUL 2014").

No other Knudsen, Breakstone's, Simply Kraft or Daily Chef products are impacted by this recall.

The Tulare, Calif. manufacturing facility, where all of the affected products were produced, has ceased production and distribution of the affected products as the company works to address the problem.

Consumers who purchased any of these products should not eat them. They should return them to the store where purchased for an exchange or full refund. Consumers also can contact Kraft Foods Consumer Relations at 1-800-396-6307 between 9 am and 6 pm (Eastern).

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Walnuts Recalled Due to Listeria

Sherman Produce Recalls Bulk and Packaged

Walnuts Due to Possible Health Risk

St. Louis-based Sherman Produce is voluntarily recalling walnuts comprising of 241 cases of bulk walnuts packaged in 25 lb bulk cardboard boxes and Schnucks brand 10 oz trays with UPC 00338390032 with best by dates 03/15 and 04/15 because the products are potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes is 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.

These products were sold to retailers in MO and IL from March – May 2014.

The recall was initiated after FDA sampling detected Listeria monocytogenes in walnuts sampled at the facility. All walnuts processed in the facility during the same timeframe as the product found positive are being recalled.

Consumers who have purchased walnuts are urged not to consume them. Consumers are advised to dispose of them or return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with any questions may call Sherman Produce at 314-231-2896, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST weekdays.

Always Tired? You May Have Sleep Apnea

Your spouse says your snoring is driving her nuts.

You wake up feeling unrested and irritable.

These are common signs that you may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder that—left untreated—can take its toll on the body and mind.

Untreated OSA has been linked to high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, car accidents, work-related accidents and depression. According to the American Sleep Association, OSA affects more than 12 million Americans.

The Food and Drug Administration ensures the safety and effectiveness of medical devices, including the device most often used by those affected by OSA – the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine, commonly known as CPAP – and a new device, the Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) System.

What is Sleep Apnea?

The Greek word "apnea" literally means "without breath." With sleep apnea, your breathing pauses multiple times during sleep. The pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes and can occur more than five times per hour, to as high as 100 times per hour. (Fewer than five times per hour is normal). Sometimes when you start breathing again, you make a loud snort or choking sound.

Obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type, is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses. The less common form, central sleep apnea, happens if the area of your brain that controls breathing doesn't send the correct signals to your breathing muscles.

According to Eric Mann, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director of FDA's Division of Ophthalmic, Neurological, and Ear, Nose and Throat Devices, you may be unaware of these events since they happen while you're sleeping. Because you partially wake up when your breathing pauses, your sleep is interrupted, and you often feel tired and irritable the next day.

Sleep apnea is almost twice as common in men as it is in women. Other risk factors include:

• being overweight, as extra fat tissue around the neck makes it harder to keep the airway open,
• being over age 40,
• smoking,
• having a family history of sleep apnea, and
• having a nasal obstruction due to a deviated septum, allergies or sinus problem.

Children also get sleep apnea, most commonly between ages 3 and 6. The most common cause is enlarged tonsils and adenoids in the upper airway.

"You should certainly tell your physician if you think you, or your child, is experiencing symptoms of sleep apnea," Mann says. "But the diagnosis of sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea requires a formal sleep study."

Polysomnogram (PSG) is the most common sleep study for sleep apnea and often takes place in a sleep center or lab to record brain activity, eye movement, blood pressure and the amount of air that moves in and out of your lungs.

Getting Treatment

The first line of defense can be behavioral. Weight loss may go a long way toward improving OSA. It may also help to stop using alcohol or medicines that make you sleepy, because they can make it harder for you to breathe.

The most common treatment is a CPAP machine. CPAPs use mild air pressure to keep your airways open. The air is delivered through a mask that fits over your nose and mouth, or only your nose.

Consumers may call 1-800-FDA-1088 or visit MedWatch to report any problems they are having with their CPAP.

CPAP is not the only medical device approved for treatment of OSA. On May 1, 2014, FDA approved the first implanted medical device for the treatment of this disorder. The Inspire Upper Airway System (UAS) is intended for consumers with moderate to severe OSA who have specific characteristics (a Body Mass Index under 32 and the absence of complete collapse in the back of the throat) and were not helped by a CPAP device, or could not tolerate the CPAP treatment. The Inspire device is surgically implanted below the collarbone and works with electrical impulses to stimulate the patient's tongue muscles and keep airways open.

The Inspire UAS consists of an electrical impulse generator, with leads and sensors that stimulate the nerve that controls the tongue and that sense the patient's breathing.

After the surgical site has healed (about a month), the physician turns the unit on and sets up the pulse generator. Patients may need to undergo one or more sleep studies before the UAS configuration is optimized for use. The patient turns the system on before going to sleep and off upon waking, using a remote control.

There are no drugs that are approved by the FDA to treat sleep apnea. Ronald Farkas, M.D., Ph.D., at FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, says that doctors sometimes prescribe drugs that promote wakefulness such as Provigil and Nuvigil for patients suffering from the daytime sleepiness caused by sleep apnea—but that these drugs do not treat the nighttime breathing problem.

Moreover, Farkas recommends that if you've been diagnosed with sleep apnea and are taking other medications, you should let your doctor know what those medications are. "A number of drugs can actually make sleep apnea worse, including many for insomnia, anxiety or severe pain," he says.

Skin Cancer Patients Have More Treatment Options

Science is discovering new ways to attack cancer cells on different fronts. Since 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved five drug treatments for melanoma and other skin cancers, giving patients more options to meet their specific needs. Today, patients have better treatments, better outcomes and a longer life.

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month and a good time to raise awareness about innovations in cancer treatment.

Skin Cancer Rates Are Rising

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. Although less common, melanoma is the most aggressive and dangerous.

In the United States, skin cancer rates are rising. The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2014, there will be:

• 76,100 new cases of melanoma and 9,710 deaths.
• 2 million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer, with fewer than 1,000 deaths.

Cancer begins in the cells. When normal cells grow old or damaged, they usually die, and new cells replace them. With cancer, new cells grow when they’re not needed, and old or damaged cells don’t die when they should—forming a mass of tissue (a growth or tumor). Skin cancer can invade normal tissue and spread throughout the body.

Treatments to remove or destroy the disease completely depend on the type and stage of cancer. Before 2011, only five drugs were approved by FDA for treating melanoma.

Most were standard chemotherapy drugs that shrank the tumors but were effective in less than 15% of patients, says Patricia Keegan, M.D., an oncologist with FDA. “Most people who took those drugs didn’t get much benefit from them,” she adds.

Since 2011, FDA has approved two melanoma drugs and one treatment combination – Zelboraf (vemurafenib), Tafinlar (dabrafenib), and Mekinist (trametinib) in combination with Tafinlar—that in clinical studies shrank tumors in about half the patients. For Zelboraf and another new melanoma drug, Yervoy (ipilimumab), patients using the drugs lived longer than if they received traditional chemotherapy, Keegan says.

New Hope for Melanoma Patients

Yervoy is a new class of immune therapy approved for treatment of patients with melanoma that cannot be removed with surgery and is not limited to melanoma with certain gene mutations. It blocks the molecule cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen (CTLA-4) and helps the body’s immune system to recognize, target and attack cells in melanoma tumors. Scientists have been trying to harness this ability for more than 100 years, Keegan says.

“We’ve had a lot of experience with tumor vaccines, hoping the patient’s body will attack the cancer as it would foreign bacteria. But most have been unsuccessful until now,” Keegan says.

Yervoy doesn’t actually attack the tumors. Instead, it helps the body’s white blood cells recognize tumor cells as foreign and reject them.

Zelboraf, Tafinlar and Mekinist are personalized medicines (health care customized at the molecular level) used to treat patients with melanoma whose tumors have the BRAF V600E gene mutation. They keep tumors from growing by blocking the mutated BRAF gene.

What’s driving these advancements?

“The science is targeting driver mutations—abnormal genes of cancer cells that make tumors grow uncontrollably—and designing drugs that block them,” Keegan says. “It’s not always effective because tumors often find a back door when you shut down one path. So scientists are working on multiple therapies that work together to block various pathways.”

Combating cancer growth is like building a dam to control water flowing down a hill, Keegan says. The water (or cancer) will find another path. “That’s why we need several controls working together to prevent cells from multiplying and spreading,” she explains. “If you block only one path, the cancer might find a side route.”

That’s the case with a combination drug therapy approved by FDA in January 2014. Mekinist and Tafinlar jointly treat patients with advanced melanoma that is metastatic (late stage) or can’t be surgically removed. These drugs block signaling in different sites of the same molecular pathway promoting cancer cell growth.

Another Breakthrough

FDA has also approved the first drug for treating metastic basal cell carcinoma: Erivedge (vismodegib). For a small fraction of the population, this cancer is very serious. Doctors often can’t cut out certain tumors—maybe because they’re on the face, head, nose or eyelid—and patients end up with disfiguring lesions. People with Gorlin syndrome—a rare form of skin cancer that can involve many parts of the body—are especially vulnerable because their cancer often returns or spreads.

Erivedge could give these patients options they never had before by shrinking their tumors and allowing them to control their lesions for months at a time, Keegan says.

“As oncologists, we’re still learning the best way to use Erivedge to control these really difficult lesions,” Keegan says. “The drug is effective for 30% to 40% of patients, but for them it’s a breakthrough because they have run out of options.”

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Two amendments added to the Senate agriculture appropriations bill on Thursday deal with horse slaughter and genetically modified salmon. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) introduced an amendment during the full committee markup that would ban horse slaughter, calling it both a health and a budget issue.. Continue Reading

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Ebola Virus in Africa Outbreak is a New Strain

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Pertussis Cases Rise In South Dakota

 Recent reports of pertussis in the Black Hills area have the Department of Heath reminding parents to make sure their kids are appropriately immunized.

South Dakota had 67 cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, in 2013.  So far this year we have had 29 cases reported and several suspects and many close contacts.  A disproportionate number of cases have been in the Black Hills area.  

Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that is spread through the air by cough. Early symptoms resemble a common cold, including sneezing, runny nose, low-grade fever and a mild cough. Within two weeks, the cough becomes more severe and is characterized by episodes of numerous rapid coughs followed by a crowing or high pitched whoop. Thick, clear mucus may be discharged. Coughing episodes may recur for one to two months, and are more frequent at night.

While it can affect people of any age, it is most severe in babies under 6 months old, especially in preterm and unvaccinated infants. The elderly are also at risk.

The single most effective control measure is maintaining the highest possible level of immunization in the community. The vaccine is given in a series of doses at 2, 4, 6 and 15 months of age and between 4 and 6 years of age. Because immunity wanes over time, a booster dose is recommended for adolescents, 11-12 years of age, and for adults.

Treatment with antibiotics can shorten the contagious period. People who have been in contact with an infected person should see their physician, receive antibiotics, and be monitored for respiratory symptoms for 21 days after the last contact. People with pertussis or their symptomatic contacts may be isolated to prevent the spread of the disease.