Who in their right mind would give out company secrets?

You have heard of the Recalls surrounding HVP?

We have too. In fact one of our food service suppliers-U.S. Foodservice, in Jackson Mississippi gave us the heads up about a possible recall on Tuesday, March 2. Thank you Josh Ard. I figured it was either one of 3 possible reasons. 1 Botulism. 2 Salmonella. 3 Undeclared allergens. If it was number one or three we were ready to immediately notify our customers about the danger and have our products pulled off the shelves at once.

You don’t mess around with botulism ever.

Hidden allergens are always dangerous, especially tree nuts, especially to those that trigger sever allergic reactions. If the undeclared allergen was not already published on our label, we would have immediately call for our retailers to pull our products in question. Mind you we didn’t screw the pooch here, a supplied product was the guilty culprit. If the undeclared allergen also happened to be one already in our recipe, ie. shellfish, our label would have already declared it and you would be able to consume it safely.

Salmonella is a different critter. While botulism kills through central nervous system, salmonella is a gastro-intestinal issue. All salmonella can be destroyed completely when an item reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees for at least 10 minutes. Ever wonder why they ask you to boil water if there has been a water company issue? This is why. Heat kills uninvited organisms.

We contacted Mississippi State Universities Food Science and Nutrition Department on Tuesday to explore the salmonella issue. Research proved the 170 degree killing thing. So I felt better about our chances of having to recall our products if salmonella was indeed the culprit.

All of our items we create using these soup bases are cooked to an internal temperature of at least 180 degrees. That includes all bloody mary mixes and salsas. We use only Minors brand (a division of Nestle Foodservice) soup bases, made without MSG for their quality, consistency and flavor profile. Have been for at least 3 years.

As of today, the FDA has cleared the use of these products if used in a cooking application for foodservice. Remember this recall for HVP dates back to products using HVP since late October until the end of February. That’s a lot of food out there in the worldwide economy. An interesting thing we’ve learned in this process is that U.S. Foodservice in Memphis and Jackson have our backs. We thank them for their timeliness and communication. When they knew something, we knew it. We do have a plan if we ever have to recall one of our items, and we are very thankful that we didn’t have to use it.

You can rest easy if you buy an Oxford Falls product. We strive for wholesomeness daily. It’s our number one priority. We will always strive to bring you the freshest, safest, tastiest products out there, from our humble little Mississippi kitchen.

That’s our promise to you.