Romaine-based Salads Recalled In USA and Canada

E. coli O157:H7 found in FDA random sample of Fresh Express Hearts of Romaine salad
(Original post dated July 15, 2010. Updated July 17, 2010)

Fresh Express, a Chiquita company, has recalled all Fresh Express Romaine-based salads (listed below) with Use-by Dates of July 8 - 12 and an "S" in the Product Code. The company points out that all of the recalled salads have passed their expiration dates and should already have disappeared from store shelves.

The recalled salads were distributed in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Washington, and Nevada. No illnesses have been linked to the recalled salads.

UPC Code		Product Description		Production Code	Use By Date Range
71279	10802	Double Carrots (12 oz)		S174, S175	July 8-9, 2010
71279	10804	Green & Crisp (12 oz)		S174, S175	July 8-9, 2010
71279	10808	Premium Romaine (9 oz)		S174, S175, S176	July 8-10, 2010
71279	10809	Lettuce Trio (9 oz)		S175, S176	July 9-10, 2010
71279	21100	Italian (10 oz)		S174, S175, S176	July 8-10, 2010
71279	23201	Fancy Greens (7 oz)		S174, S175	July 8-9, 2010
71279	24100	American (12 oz)		S175, S176	July 11-12, 2010
71279	25101	5-Lettuce Mix (6 oz)		S175	July 9, 2010
71279	26102	Hearts of Romaine (10 oz)		S174, S175, S176	July 8-10, 2010
71279	26112	Leafy Green Romaine (9 oz)		S175	July 9, 2010
71279	26201	Hearts of Romaine (18 oz)		S174, S175	July 8-9, 2010
71279	28100	Veggie Lovers (12 oz)		S174, S175	July 8-9, 2010
71279	30100	Caesar Completes Kit (10 oz)		S175, S176	July 9-10, 2010
71279	30101	Caesar Lite Completes Kit (10 oz)		S175, S176	July 9-10, 2010
71279	30104	Caesar Supreme Completes Kit (10.8 oz)		S175, S176	July 9-10, 2010
71279	30105	BLT Caesar Completes Kit (10.5 oz)		S175	July 9, 2010
71279	30201	Asian Supreme Completes Kit (13.8 oz)		S175, S176	July 9-10, 2010
71279	30601	Salsa! Ensalada Supreme Completes Kit (14 oz)		S174, S175	July 8-9, 2010
71279	40701	Gourmet Cafe Chicken Caesar (7.8 oz)		S175	July 9, 2010
71279	40705	Gourmet Cafe Caribbean Chicken (8.6 oz)		S175	July 9, 2010
71279	40706	Gourmet Cafe Tuscan Chicken (7.8 oz)		S175	July 9, 2010
71279	26100	Romaine Chopped (32 oz)		S175	July 9, 2010

As usual, the FDA recall notice provides no information on which retailers carried the Fresh Express salads. Following is a partial US retail distribution list (to be updated as more information becomes available):

• Fred Meyer Stores (a Kroger Company banner): Oregon and Washington
• QFC Stores (a Kroger Company banner): Oregon and Washington
• Target Stores
• Top Food & Drug
  

The Fresh Express recall has triggered two separate Canadian recall notices so far. On July 14th – before news of the recall was even released in the United States – the Canadian Food Inspection Agency alerted Canadian consumers "... not to consume the Fresh Express brand Romaine-based Salads described below because these products may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7." The recalled salads were known to be distributed in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, and may have been distributed nationally.

Product (Size)	UPC	Production Code	Best Before
Double Carrots (340g)	0 71279 10802 5	S175	July 10, 2010
Green & Crisp (340g)	0 71279 10804 9	S175	July 10, 2010
Premium Romaine (255g)	0 71279 10808 7	S175	July 10, 2010
Lettuce Trio (255g)	0 71279 10809 4	S175	July 10, 2010
Italian (283g)	0 71279 21100 8	S175, S176	July 10-11, 2010
Fancy Greens (198g)	0 71279 23201 0	S174, S175	July 9-10, 2010
American (340g)	0 71279 24100 5	S175, S176	July 11-12, 2010
5-Lettuce Mix (170g)	0 71279 25101 1	S175	July 9, 2010
Hearts of Romaine (283g)	0 71279 26102 7	S175, S176	July 10-11, 2010
Triple Hearts (226g)	0 71279 26111 9	S175, S176	July 10-11, 2010
Leafy Green Romaine (255g)	0 71279 26112 6	S175	July 10, 2010
Veggie Lover’s (340g)	0 71279 28100 1	S175	July 10, 2010
Caesar Complete Salad (212g+74mL)	0 71279 30100 6	S175, S176	July 10-11, 2010
CaesarLite Complete Salad (212g+74mL)	0 71279 30101 3	S175, S176	July 10-11, 2010
Caesar Supreme Complete Salad (226g+81mL)	0 71279 30104 4	S175, S176	July 10-11, 2010
B.L.T. Caesar Complete Salad (226g+74mL)	0 71279 30107 5	S175	July 10, 2010
Asian Supreme Complete Salad (325g+74mL)	0 71279 30201 0	S175, S176	July 10-11, 2010
Salsa! Ensalada Supreme Complete Salad (326g+74mL)	0 71279 30601 8	S175	July 10, 2010

Separately, Canada Safeway Limited has recalled various Romaine-based store-made and Signature Café brand salads with Best Before dates of July 14 and 15, because the salads may contain one of the Fresh Express Romaine-based salads. Safeway's recall applied to the following salads, which were made and sold at Safeway stores in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Brand	Product	Size	UPC
None	Garden Salad	300 g	214735
None	Busy Chef Salad	Various	214516
None	Chicken Caesar Salad	Various	219393
None	Greek Salad	Various	210585
Signature Café	Asian Chicken Salad	369 g	0 58200 13080 5
Signature Café	Chicken Caesar Salad	354 g	0 58200 13086 7
Signature Café	Cobb Salad	457 g	0 58200 13082 9
Signature Café	Seafood Salad	440 g	0 58200 13107 9
Signature Café	Santa Fe Salad	499 g	0 58200 13084 3
Signature Café	Buffalo Chicken Side Salad	255 g	0 58200 13098 0
Signature Café	Caesar Side Salad	140 g	0 58200 13103 1
Signature Café	Garden Fresh Side Salad	170 g	0 58200 13105 5
Signature Café	Spicy Thai Chicken Side Salad	200 g	0 58200 13096 6

This article will be updated as additional retail distribution information becomes available. If you know of a retailer who sold one or more of the recalled salads and who is not yet included in this list, please post a comment, below or email me directly.


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Recall Roundup: May 25, 2010

Here is today's list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals and allergy alerts. The live links will take you directly to the official recall notices and company news releases that contain detailed information for each recall and alert.

If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please click here or submit your request using the sidebar link. Please include "subscribe eFoodAlert" in the subject line.

United States

• Food Safety Recall: Fresh Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chiquita Brands International, recalls a specific selection of Fresh Express Romaine-based ready-to-eat salads with the expired Use-by Dates of May 13th through May 16th and an "S" in the Product Code, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled salads were sold in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Nebraska, Montana, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota, in retail supermarket stores, including H-E-B and the following Kroger stores: Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, FoodsCo, QFC, and Ralphs stores.
• Food Recall: Ingles Markets Inc. recalls Laura Lynn Purified Water with date of 05APR10 after receiving complaints of an off-taste.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Willamette Shelling Inc. that November and December 2009 inspections of the company's detected Salmonella contamination in the production facility environment and significant deviations from the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulation for foods.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns L. Perrigo Company that November 2009 and January 2010 inspections of the company's manufacturing facility in Allegan, MI identified significant violations of Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for Finished Pharmaceuticals.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Liquid Manufacturing LLC that a January 2010 inspection of the company's acidified and acid foods manufacturing facility revealed significant deviations from the requirements of 21 CFR Part 108, 21 CFR Part 114, and 21 CFR Part 110. The FDA inspection was in response to a consumer complaint involving swollen pouches of baby food products manufactured at the facility.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Solar Farms, Inc. that a July/August 2009 inspection of the company's bean sprout processing facility revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the facility, as well as "objectionable conditions" that rendered the company's sprout products adulterated.
• FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Milky Way Farm that a review of the company's web site has determined that Milky Way Farm is causing to be delivered, selling, or otherwise distributing raw milk, in final package form for human consumption, in interstate commerce, which is a violation of the Public Health Service Act and regulations.

Europe

• Food Safety Recall (Denmark): Arla Foods Amba recalls 1/2L containers of semi-skimmed milk produced 21th May 2010 because an incorrect "Best Before" date was printed on the containers.

Some supermarket chains post recall notices on their web sites for the convenience of customers. To see whether a recalled food was carried by your favorite supermarket, follow the live link to the supermarket's recall web site.

• A&P
• Big Y® World Class Market®
  
• BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.
  
• Bloom
  
• Brookshire's
  
• Costco Wholesale Corporation (US stores)
  
• Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
  
• EDEKA (Germany)
• Food City
  
• Food Lion
  
• Giant Food LLC
• Gros Cidac (Italy)
• Hannaford Brothers Co.
  
• Harris Teeter
  
• Harvey's Supermarket
  
• H-E-B
• The Kroger Company*
  
• Price Chopper
  
• Raley's
• Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc.
  
• Sainsbury's
  
• ShopRite
  
• Stop & Shop
• Sweetbay Supermarkets
• Target
  
• Top Food & Drug
• Tops Friendly Markets
  
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
  
• Wegmans
  
• Whole Foods Market
  
• WinCo Foods
• Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
  

*The Kroger umbrella encompasses numerous supermarket, marketplace and convenience store chains, listed on the Kroger corporate home page.

Warning: Salmonella-Contaminated Tuna Salad

The Georgia Department of Agriculture has found Salmonella in a sample of “Deli Fresh” tuna salad manufactured by Allison’s Gourmet Kitchens of Moore, OK. The contamination was found during a routine sampling program, and no illnesses have been reported.

The tuna salad was sold in a 12-ounce packaged with the marking "USE BY 07/29/08 B1."

Georgia has notified the FDA of its finding. Ingle's – the store where the contaminated salad was purchased – has removed the product from its shelves. Department of Agriculture sanitarians will be checking other grocery stores in the state to make sure that the Salmonella-contaminated product has been removed from sale.

Consumers who have purchased this tuna salad should either discard it, or return it to the store for a refund. Anyone who has already eaten the contaminated product and begins to experience symptoms of salmonellosis – diarrhea, stomachache, low-grade fever, vomiting – should seek medical care.

And In Other News . . .

Here is a summary of other food alerts and other health-related news items that popped up during the last couple of weeks.

May 27th
Supreme Cuts LLC of Mahwah, NJ recalled 87 cases of "Off the Cob Fresh Kernel Corn" after the company found Listeria monocytogenes in a sample of the product. Supreme Cuts suspended production until it could track down the source of the contamination. The corn was distributed to a small number of stores in New Jersey and Massachusetts. Customers were told to discard any unused "Off the Cob" corn that was labeled with a "best before" date of May 26.

May 28th
Orval Kent Foods recalled 23,000 pounds of Amish Macaroni Salad after the Ohio Department of Agriculture found E. coli O157:H7 in a sample. The salad was shipped to retail and food service establishments in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Customers were urged to return unopened containers for a full refund. No illnesses have been reported.

May 30th
The UK Food Standards Agency has updated its advisory to British consumers against consuming Bantry Bay frozen mussels, which may contain Azaspiracid Shellfish Poisoning toxins. The advisory has been expanded to include the following product:

• Bantry Bay Mussels in Garlic
• Size: 900g
• Best before: 6 June 2009
• Product code: GBDBL12
• Batch: 24A2

The product was sold only in Makro stores. Consumers are advised to return the recalled mussels to the store for a refund.

May 30th
Fresca Italia, Inc., a California company, recalled one production batch of Burrata, an Italian-style fresh cheese, after the California Dept. of Food & Agriculture detected Listeria monocytogenes in a sample of the cheese. The Burrata, which carries an expiration date of 24/5/2008, was distributed to retail stores and restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area and in southern California.

And that should bring us up to date – at least for now.

A Look Back at January 2008

I have just returned from a month-long trip through Southeast Asia, and have been scanning through my accumulation of news archives to see what I missed. Here are a few of the things that happened in the United States and Canada while I was away.

1. New Era Canning Company announced on January 18th a recall of green beans and canned garbanzo beans packed in #10 cans (institutional size) due to a risk of botulism. Four days later, the company expanded the recall to included all cans of green beans and garbanzo beans produced during the past five years.
2. On January 21st, Kroger's recalled it's Tri-Bean Salad from stores in 14 states. The salads had been prepared using canned beans from New Era.
3. FDA announced a recall of frozen salted yellow croaker and frozen dried yellow croaker on January 23rd, due to the possibility that the fish might be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum.
4. USDA announced on January 5th a recall of more than 13,000 pounds of steak and ground beef products from Mark's Quality Meats of Detroit due to E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The meat was sold to Detroit area restaurants. No illnesses were associated with this recall.
5. Rochester Meat Company of Rochester, MN recalled 188,000 pounds of ground beef on January 12th after six illnesses – five in Wisconsin and one in California – were linked to their meat. The ground beef had been distributed to restaurants and food service establishments nation-wide.
6. On January 22nd, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) alerted consumers to Salmonella-contaminated organic sesame seeds. The seeds were imported from Uganda. On January 28th, Shiloh Farms of New Holland, PA announced the recall of its "Organic Unhulled Sesame Seeds", after FDA detected Salmonella in a sample of sesame seeds from one of their suppliers. Coincidence?
7. On January 27th, CFIA warned consumers in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces to avoid consuming chicken sandwiches produced by Les Aliments Martel of Gatineau, QC, due to the risk that the sandwiches might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
8. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an on-going outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B var. Java that has been linked to pet turtles. As of January 18th, there have been 103 confirmed illnesses in 33 states. Young children are especially susceptible to becoming infected as a result of handling the contaminated turtles. FDA has posted a Consumer Update on the risks associated with Salmonella in pet turtles.
9. Finally, Washington State Department of Agriculture announced on January 29th that it had found Listeria monocytogenes in a coconut-flavored frozen dessert produced by Ca Rem #1 Ice Cream of Sea Tac, WA. The non-dairy frozen dessert was distributed mainly through Asian restaurants and markets in Western Oregon and Western Washington, and is being recalled by the manufacturer. Consumers are advised to throw away any unused product.

I'm intrigued by the sudden upsurge of major canned food recalls in the last year or two – first Castleberry's and now New Era. This sector of the food industry has been under a HACCP-style program for many decades with apparently good results. I wonder whether the chronic underfunding of FDA's food inspection activities is bearing some bitter fruit.

Manure Happens

Have you ever wondered how our produce becomes contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella ?

According to USDA, a typical cattle feedlot, which contains approximately 1,000 head of cattle, produces up to 280 tons of manure per week. And the last time anyone checked (about 10 years ago), manure samples from 63 of 100 feedlots contained E. coli O157:H7.

Until now, runoff from cattle feedlots has been stored in large ponds and then either processed for disposal or used as irrigation water. But USDA researchers have come up with a “new and improved” system. They propose to collect runoff in a temporary “basin” at the bottom of each feedlot. After allowing several minutes for the “solids” to settle to the bottom of the basin, the liquid will be spread (using a series of pipes) over an adjacent grassy field. Each fall, the accumulated solids will be removed from the basin and used to fertilize nearby cropland.

USDA claims that this new system is more environmentally friendly and reduces the risk of groundwater becoming contaminated with nutrient rich material from the old-style runoff storage ponds. But the agency is silent on the risk of contaminating cropland with pathogens.

Pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes can survive for several weeks in manure and in soil that has been fertilized with manure. Using untreated runoff water for irrigation, and uncomposted manure to fertilize cropland, risks spreading these pathogens through an entire agricultural area. I have to ask myself why USDA didn’t mention the ramifications of this important risk factor in its report.

We have reached our present disturbing level of produce contamination in part because no one thought through the risks involved in juxtaposing cattle feedlots and irrigated cropland. Before we implement a significant change to an important (and distasteful) aspect of feedlot management, we must be sure that we won’t be exchanging one problem for an even greater one.

Hold the Mayo

A discussion board forum recently dipped into the topic of mayonnaise and food safety. One of the contributors posted, “I always throw stuff out if it has mayo on it and is the slightest bit old.” But should the presence of mayo be the sole determining factor?

Many consumers, knowing that mayonnaise contains eggs, consider it a high-risk for food poisoning. This prejudice has been reinforced for years by the association of potato salad and other mayonnaise-containing dishes with food-borne illness. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye.

Commercial mayonnaise is a very unwelcoming environment for bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli. In contrast to many other commercial products, there has never been a food-poisoning outbreak in the United States that was tied directly to commercial mayonnaise.

The safety of commercial mayonnaise rests on its formula, of which the main ingredients are pasteurized egg yolks and acetic acid (vinegar). Acetic acid and its relatives, citric acid and lactic acid, are known inhibitors of bacterial growth. The antibacterial action of these organic acids rests not only with the acidity that they produce in the mayonnaise, which is considerable, but also with their biological properties. Inorganic acids, such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid, are not nearly as effective as the organic acids at preventing the growth of bacteria. Mayonnaise manufacturers take great care to adjust the acidity of their products to a consistent level to ensure its safety and stability.

Several studies of mayonnaise safety have been carried out - some independent, and some funded by food companies. Consistently, these studies have reached the following conclusions:

• Bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 do not grow in commercial mayonnaise.
• These same pathogens can survive for many weeks if they are introduced into mayonnaise that is then stored in the refrigerator, but die off in just a few days if the mayonnaise is stored at room temperature.

Homemade mayonnaise is a much riskier product. It’s usually made from raw eggs yolks, oil and vinegar or lemon juice. The acidity of homemade mayo varies from cook to cook and from batch to batch. All that’s needed is a single contaminated egg (most likely with Salmonella enteritidis) and a slight reduction in the acidity of the mixture to produce a dangerous situation.

In 1999, researchers in England developed a safer formula for home-made mayonnaise. They used 20-35 mL (4-7 tsp.) of pure lemon juice for each egg yolk. To improve the odds that any pathogens would die off, the researchers also recommended holding the home-made mayonnaise at room temperature (72ºF or 22ºC) for 72 hours (if only 4 tsp. of lemon juice was used) or 48 hours (if 7 tsp. of lemon juice was used) before using or refrigerating the batch of mayonnaise.

Commercial mayonnaise is a very safe product, as long as it’s in the jar. But, when mixed with other food - such as potatoes, vegetables, fish, or other sandwich fixings, it’s acidity is diluted to the point that it will no longer prevent microbes from growing. So handle all foods that contain mayonnaise with kid gloves - but not just because of the mayo.