Recalled milk powder cascaded into a bulk flavor ingredient — 3,000 pounds, some of it into Canada (Fontana Flavors)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classified Fontana Flavors' bulk "Cream of Mushroom Type Flavor" as a Class I recall because it was made with milk powder that a supplier had recalled for Salmonella contamination.
Recall overview (primary data)
- ClassificationClass I (most serious)
- Product typeFood
- Recalling firmFontana Flavors, Inc
- ReasonProduct was made with milk powder recalled by the supplier due to Salmonella contamination.
- DistributionIL, TN, and outside the US to Canada
- Recall initiated2026-04-22
Key points
- Class I is the FDA's most serious category, used when there is a reasonable probability of serious harm or death.
- The product is a bulk flavor ingredient, "Natural Cream of Mushroom Type Flavor" (50-lb bags, for further processing), totaling 3,000 pounds.
- The recall reason is that it was made with milk powder the supplier had recalled for Salmonella contamination.
- Distribution reached Illinois and Tennessee and crossed the border into Canada.
- It is a textbook chain recall in which an ingredient recall spreads to downstream products; the recall is ongoing.
- Of the 1,408 FDA recall records this site holds as of 2026-09-01, 19 cite milk powder in the reason and five name the supplier itself.
1Class I and Salmonella
Class I is the most serious of the FDA's recall classifications. It applies when there is a reasonable probability that using or being exposed to a product will cause serious harm to health or death. Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause foodborne illness and can spread to people through contaminated food, so contamination at the ingredient stage can cascade through to finished products and trigger a recall.
The item here is not a store-ready product but a bulk flavor ingredient explicitly marked "For Further Processing" — an intermediate material intended to be blended into other manufacturers' food products.
2A chain recall that began with an ingredient
What distinguishes this case is that the contamination did not originate in the company's own production line but in milk powder purchased from an outside supplier, making it a chain recall. When an ingredient is recalled for Salmonella, the downstream products made with it become subject to recall as well.
- 1SupplierMilk powder is recalled for Salmonella contamination
- 2Intermediate materialThe flavor ingredient blended from it falls under recall
- 3Finished productsSuspicion reaches every product made with that flavor
Because intermediate materials such as flavors can be added in small amounts across many finished products, a single ingredient recall can ripple widely.
3Nineteen records lead back to the same ingredient
Of the 1,408 FDA recall records this site holds as of 2026-09-01, 19 carry milk powder in the reason for recall. Five of those name the supplier itself, California Dairies, within the reason text.
Read one at a time they look like recalls of unrelated products; read across the reason texts they arrive at the same ingredient. The shape of the chain survives in the reason field rather than in the structured columns.
4Cross-border distribution and traceability
The distribution list — which includes not only Illinois and Tennessee but also Canada — shows that food supply chains are built across borders. Because an ingredient manufactured and recalled in the United States can travel abroad, recall response is not confined to one country's regulator and depends on international information-sharing and coordination.
Records that allow an ingredient's origin to be traced (traceability) play a key role in handling both the cascading and the cross-border dimensions of such recalls.
Why it matters
This case shows how contamination originating with an ingredient supplier can cascade to downstream flavor manufacturers. Because intermediate materials may be blended into many finished products, a Salmonella recall of a purchased ingredient translates directly into recall risk for a company's own products. Practical safeguards for food makers include systems to learn of supplier recalls quickly, traceability to follow an ingredient's origin, and recall-response plans that account for cross-border distribution (here, into Canada).
FAQ
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Sources (primary)
Source: openFDA (U.S. FDA, CC0 public domain). Data is provided as-is and must not be used for medical decisions. Verify the latest and exact details with the official FDA recall information. This site is not endorsed or certified by the U.S. FDA.
- FDA recall information (official)
- openFDA (data provider)
- Recall number: H-0812-2026