Hot on the tail of the massive caramel/sliced apple recall that has affected Canada and the US, a new set of cascading recalls seems to be spreading. This time the culprit is undeclared peanut allergen in cumin powder which has prompted recalls of cumin itself along with over 50 other brands covering a variety of spices and prepared products including some prepackaged meats.

Ingredient recalls really demonstrate the interesting dynamic of the global industrial food system. It is in these cases where a single point of failure with a single product can branch out and spread, resulting in a recall many times the size of the original contamination. While it hasn’t spread to Canada yet, it will be interesting and unsurprising if it eventually does.