Ravioli cans contaminated

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 5

Ravioli cans contaminated

The Health Department warns people to check their cupboards for contaminated cans of Canadian meat-filled ravioli. An unknown number of cans has been sold throughout New Zealand. The cans contain high levels of tin and have caused cases of vomiting. They are labelled “Catelli meat-filled Ravioli in tomato sauce,” and “Catelli Raviolis a la viande en sauce tomate.” The contaminated cans are identifiable by three lines of code embossed on one end of the can. The middle line says 49N6. The can size is 425 g.

The Health Department said anyone who had cans of the ravioli with the 49N6 code should immediately throw them away. Alternatively they could be returned to the retailer for a refund. All other batches of the product were safe, said the Health Department’s chief scientist, Mr Jim Fraser, last evening. Mr Fraser said that the contaminated cans arrived in New Zealand in March, among a shipment of 6000 cans distributed to 62 shops throughout New Zealand. The Health Department became aware of the problem in early May,

and was now confident that the faulty batch had been recalled. An unknown number had already been sold, however.

Mr Fraser said that the department had retrieved 1992 faulty cans, but did not know the size of the original shipment. The manufacturer’s records could not be relied on, as they purported to show that none of the batch came to New Zealand.

The problem arose becasue batch 49N6 — canned on the forty-ninth day of 1986 — used cans without a protective layer of lacquer on the inside. The tin plating then

leached into the contents. The longer they were stored, the higher the tin level would become. Mr Fraser said that eventually the contents would eat through the tin plate and start on the steel of the can itself, producing hydrogen. The cans would bulge and possibly explode.

The effect of tin poisoning, however, was shortlived.

“The body just says ‘no,’ and disgorges it pretty fast,” he said. It would bring on sudden vomiting, then the sufferer would feel better within a few hours, he said.