(Washington, DC)  --  The Food and Drug Administration has ordered recalls for hundreds of products that may contain a salmonella-tainted flavoring ingredient.  The MSG-like flavor enhancer known as HVP is produced by Basic Food Flavors of North Las Vegas.  On March 4th, that company announced a recall of all production going back to February 17th 2009.  That includes 105 items ranging from gravy mixes to soups and salad dressings, prepared salad products to snacks and stuffings. 

The latest items affected by the recall are more than 115-thousand pounds of ready-to-eat beef taquito and chicken quesadilla products from Ruiz Foods of Denison, Texas.  That company has been forced to recall Tornados Ranchero Beef and Cheese Roll-ups.  The FDA has posted the growing list at FoodSafety.gov.

The FDA released a report this week that said Basic Food Flavors was aware the product had been contaminated with salmonella, but continued to distribute paste and powder products until mid-February of this year.  The FDA says no illnesses have been reported in connection with the possibly tainted enhancer HVP.