By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are currently investigating two separate outbreaks of Listeria Monocytogenes involving packaged salads shipped to and sold in a number of states, including Kentucky.
One outbreak is linked to packaged salads produced by Dole and began in October, when 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 monocytogenes.
Dole initiated a recall of packaged garden salads in October and has agreed to voluntarily suspend operations at both the Bessemer City, NC, facility and Yuma, AZ, facility and has voluntarily recalled all products and brands from those facilities. Those products have production lot codes beginning with either the letter “N” or “Y” in the upper right-hand corner of the package and Best if Used By dates from November 30, 2021, to January 8, 2022. Dole’s full list of recalled products is available on the FDA’s website.
In the other outbreak, Fresh Express is recalling certain varieties of its branded and private label salad products produced at the company’s Streamwood, Illinois facility because the product also has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria.
The recall was instituted when the Michigan Department of Agriculture received a positive result for Listeria in a random sample test of a single package of Fresh Express 9 oz. Sweet Hearts salad mix with Use-By Date of December 8, 2021, manufactured at the Fresh Express Streamwood facility.
Their brands include Fresh Express, Giant Eagle, Little Salad Bar, Marketside, O Organics, Signature Farms, Simply Nature Organic, Weis Fresh From the Field, and Wellsley Farms.
Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. Consumers with these symptoms should consult their health care provider.