Two major salad maker makers are recalling dozens of products over fears they may be contaminated with the bacteria responsible for listeria.
Fresh Express, based in Morrow, Ga., is recalling three versions of its ready-made chopped salad batch after regulators discovered contamination during routine testing. Affected products include the Caesar Chopped Kit, Chopped Kit Chipotle Cheddar, and the Publix-branded Makoto Honey Ginger Salad Kit.
None of these products will remain in stores, as all recalled items have passed their “sell by” date. But officials warn that the salad kits could remain in people’s refrigerators.
Revolution Farms in Caledonia, Michigan, also issued a recall of all of its products last week after a similar regulatory test revealed a listeria contamination.
The bacterial infection is relatively harmless to most Americans but poses a risk to pregnant women and their unborn babies.
Scroll down for the full list of affected products:
Revolution Farms has recalled more than a dozen salad kits as well as 10 bulk products over concerns they contained listeria.
Affected Fresh Express products were sold in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
The recalled Revolution Farms products were sold in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.
Detecting cases of dangerous pathogens in circulating products is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration.
Earlier this year, the agency announced sweeping recalls of more than 400 pre-made food items in stores across the country that were feared to be contaminated with listeria.
Leading up to the Fresh Express recall, a sample of the salad kit collected by the Georgia Department of Agriculture returned evidence of the Listeria pathogen on March 31.
Revolution Farms announced its voluntary recall April 5 after the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development found evidence of the pathogen in a random sample test of a 5-ounce package of Revoloso Farms Green Sweet Crisp. Retail with Best by April 2, 2023.
The company then noted that the recalled product may have played a role in the multi-state outbreak of listeriosis, the infection caused by the Listeria bacteria, and expanded the voluntary recall to include more products across a wide variety of grocery stores.
Listeriosis usually occurs after a person has eaten contaminated foods, the most common of which are sausages, deli meats, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, especially watermelon, and unpasteurized dairy products.
The pathogen is unique among other agents that cause foodborne illness in that it thrives at lower temperatures, such as inside a refrigerator, and can multiply to dangerous levels during storage.
Anyone can get listeriosis, but the infection is more serious in the elderly, people with compromised or weakened immune systems, pregnant women, and developing fetuses.
Symptoms of infection usually include those that are somewhat similar to the flu – chills, fever, aches, nausea, and vomiting.
But in these specific groups, the infection can be fatal. For example, listeriosis can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and death in newborns without timely treatment.
Even with proper antibiotic treatment, this disease has a high mortality rate up to 30 percent.
More than 90 percent of people with listeriosis are hospitalized, often in intensive care units.
In the United States, an estimated 1,600 people are infected with listeria each year, and about 260 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
No illnesses associated with the recalled products have been reported to date.
But the CDC offline investigation Listeria outbreak based on patient samples collected since July 2018.
As of February 15, 2023, the CDC has reported that 11 people have been infected with the strain of the outbreak.
This total is likely to be an undercount, as some people recover without medical care and are not tested for listeria.
The recall began when we learned that a random sample test of one salad batch dated March 31, 2023 collected by the Georgia Department of Agriculture yielded a positive result for the pathogen Listeria.
