Oatly, others, issue recall

The maker of certain Oatly, Premier Protein and other specialty beverages has issued a recall for 53 of its products because of potential microbial contamination, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Fresno, California-based Lyons Magnus, a contract manufacturer that works with numerous food and beverage brands, issued the voluntary recall after a preliminary analysis showed it did not meet commercial sterility benchmarks, raising the risk of contamination from Cronobacter sakazakii.

Though no illnesses have been reported, the agency advises against consuming any of the products.

The recall extends to various protein drinks, coffee products and other beverages, including Oatly’s Oat-Milk Barista Edition, Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee with Oat Milk and Aloha plant-based protein drinks, as well as offerings from Lyons, Glucerna, Pirq, Intelligentsia, Kate Farms, Premier Protein, MRE and Imperial.

Although cronobacter infections are rare, vulnerable populations and those who are immunocompromised are more susceptible to illness. Common symptoms include fever, vomiting and urinary tract infection.

Cronobacter was found in infants who were sickened or died after consuming formula from an Abbott factory in Michigan.

Although the illnesses could not be traced to the plant, and the company said bacteria tied to the illnesses did not originate there, the factory was closed for months after the FDA cited unsanitary conditions, leading to a nationwide shortage of baby formula.

None of the products in the Lyons recall are intended for infants.

U.S. credit card debt surges

Credit card debt surged in the United States from April through June as Americans borrowed billions of dollars to continue spending in the face of growing inflation, according to a Tuesday report from Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Credit card balances increased $46 billion in the second quarter, a 5.5% increase from the first quarter, and there was also an uptick in new credit card accounts.

The 13% increase from the second quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022 was the biggest such jump in more than 20 years.

“Americans are borrowing more, but a big part of the increased borrowing is attributable to higher prices,” researchers for the New York Fed said in a news release.

The numbers reflect the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s consumer spending report released last week, which showed that spending in June climbed 1.1%.

Similar to the New York Fed’s findings, gas prices, which surged past $5 a gallon in many parts of the country in the second quarter, and inflation, which jumped 9.1%, year over year, in June, were likely the drivers of the increased debt.

A surge in new credit card accounts in the second quarter – 233 million – marked record highs not seen since 2008, according to the report released Tuesday.

But researchers for the New York Fed noted that delinquency rates for credit card debt is still relatively low. Despite a slight increase, it is still below pre-pandemic numbers.

The report released Tuesday found that household debt increased in the second quarter by $312 billion, or 2%, compared to the first quarter.

Total balances are now $2 trillion higher than before the pandemic.

From wire reports