It's time to check your fridge. A recall is being issued for ready-to-eat salad products that have been linked to two deaths and 16 illnesses.
Dole Fresh Vegetables is recalling Dole-branded and private label packaged salad sold in 25 states due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreak strain of listeria associated with the salad has been linked to 16 total illnesses -- including 12 hospitalizations and two deaths -- across 13 states. One case occurred in 2014 and the remaining cases occurred between 2018 and as recent as October 2021.
The recall includes more than 100 "ready-to-eat" salad products sold under brand names including Ahold, Dole, Kroger, Lidl, Little Salad Bar, Marketside, Naturally Better, Nature's Promise and Simply Nature. Click here to see a full list of products.
Products subject to the recall are identified by a product lot code beginning with the either the letter "N" or "Y" in the upper right-hand corner of the package, and a "Best if Used By" date between November 30, 2021, and January 8, 2022.
The recalled products were produced at two different processing facilities: Bessemer City, North Carolina and Yuma, Arizona.
Recalled salad items from the Bessemer City facility were distributed in the states of Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Recalled salad items from the Yuma facility were distributed in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The CDC investigated this outbreak in 2019 and 2020 "but was unable to gather enough data to identify the source in the past," according to a statement from the Food and Drug Administration. The CDC reopened the investigation in November 2021 when four new illnesses were reported since the end of August.
In October 2021, as a part of routine retail sampling, the Georgia Department of Agriculture collected a product sample of prepackaged salad mix from a grocery store for testing. The sample tested positive for listeria and was sent for whole genome sequencing analysis. Earlier this month, results showed that the listeria in the product sample was a match to the outbreak strain.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development also recently initiated retail sampling of Dole products as part of the investigation. One product containing lettuce from the Dole facility in Yuma tested positive for listeria. Further analysis showed that the listeria in the product sample was also a match to the outbreak strain.
In addition to recalling all products processed at its facilities in Bessemer City and Yuma, Dole has temporarily suspended operations at both facilities to conduct an extensive cleaning and sanitation protocol.
The Dole recall comes two days after Fresh Express issued a recall for more than 100 varieties of salad sold under various brand names for possible listeria contamination. The recalled products were processed at the company's Streamwood, Illinois facility.
At this point, federal authorities have not said if the Dole and Fresh Express listeria outbreaks are connected. Both remain under investigation.
Related
Related
