Cavendish Farms says more sewing needles have been found in potatoes.
A company representative says the needles were discovered this past weekend during production of French fries at their New Annan, P.E.I plant.
“Our established food safety processes and technology worked as they were designed,” said Bill Meisner, VP of Operations, in a statement.
Cavendish says the potatoes did not come from Linkletter Farms, and have narrowed their investigation to a potential source, but did not elaborate.
Despite needles being found, the company has not announced a recall because the contaminated potatoes did not leave the plant.
“The needles were detected through our HACCP processes and technology,” says Meisner. “Our employees responded as trained.”
Greg Donald, General Manager of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board also commented about the on-going problem.
“There is no higher priority for Island growers than food safety,” he says. “We are very concerned there have been additional needles found. Potato tampering is a concern for the entire potato industry on PEI. This has to stop.”
