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SAN FRANCISCO — There's bad news for guacamole lovers. A popular brand of avocados grown in California has been recalled because of possible contamination
The Henry Avocado Corporation issued a recall of its “Bravocado” brand because of a possible listeria contamination.
The recall covers both conventional and organic avocados packed at the company’s California facility. The company says the affected avocados were sold in bulk to markets in California, Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina and New Hampshire.
Wholesalers at the San Francisco wholesale produce market were busy Monday morning sorting through dozens of boxes, accepting returns and throwing out tainted fruit. Many boxes were marked "do not use."
“They are currently shipping avocados from both Mexico and California, but the only ones that are subject to the recall are the California avocados” said Jack Pizza, president of the Washington Vegetable Company.
Henry Avocado, a grower and distributor based in Escondido in San Diego County, says avocados from Mexico are safe to eat and all of its avocados are labeled with its place of origin.
Customers with domestic avocados marked with a "Bravocado" sticker should dispose of the produce or return them to the retailer.
The company says there are no known cases of customers getting sick and issued the recall out of an abundance of caution after a routine inspection of its packing plant revealed samples that tested positive for listeria.
Listeria is a bacteria that can cause fever, headache, nausea and diarrhea in healthy individuals, and more dangerous complications in pregnant women.
While recalls of produce due to listeria have been common in recent years, Pizza said he was surprised the latest outbreak hit a fruit with a thick skin.
“I’m not a biologist but it does seem kind of odd to me that something like an avocado would have this kind of problem… Usually we see this problem with the leafy greens, with the spinaches and the cilantros – it’s more logical as to how contamination would get into the product, but obviously there is an issue here so we’ll deal with it.”