If you’ve stocked up on salad ahead of the holidays, you should ensure that the products you’ve purchased have not been just recalled. One company recalled certain types of salad on suspicion of Salmonella contamination a few days ago. That was a limited recall that only impacted products sold in Canada. On top of that, there’s a massive salad recall that covers more than 100 salad brands. The recall follows a sample test that yielded positive results for the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. If you have Fresh Express salads and greens at home, you should ensure they’re not part of the current recall.
The Fresh Express salad recall
Fresh Express announced the massive salad recall on December 20th. Then, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published the announcement a day later.
The salad recall concerns several types of Fresh Express, Bowl and Basket, Giant Eagle, Marketside, and other products.
The company sold the recalled salad items in various regions in the US and Canada. US distribution includes the following states: CT, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, ND, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, WI. As for Canada, customers in Ontario and Manitoba should be on the lookout for the products in the Fresh Express salad recall.
This all started after a random sample test from the Michigan Department of Agriculture returned a positive for Listeria. The test involved a single package of Fresh Express 9 oz. Sweet Hearts salad mix with a Use-By Date of December 8th.
The Fresh Express salad recall includes “all Use-By Dates of fresh salad items with product codes Z324 through Z350.”
A complete list of salad brands in the recall is available at this link, including well over 100 products. Therefore, you should inspect the entire list and ensure that your salad supply doesn’t come from one of these lots.
Listeria infection symptoms
People who consume products containing traces of Listeria monocytogenes risk developing an infection called listeriosis that might be confused with something else. Fresh Express reminds its customers that infection symptoms can include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
Considering the context, high fever and severe headache might make people suspect infection with the novel coronavirus. That’s why it’s critical to pay attention to such salad recalls.
The company notes that most people who develop listeriosis only experience short-term symptoms. But the infection can be fatal in certain groups, including young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems. Furthermore, the infection can also lead to miscarriages or stillbirths in pregnant women.
What you should do
If you’ve purchased Fresh Express salad products recently, you should check the announcement at this link to see if the brands you have at home are part of the recall.
In case you own salad from the recalled brands, you should stop consuming them. The company advises buyers to either throw the product out or seek a refund. Contact information for the Fresh Express recall is available in the press release.
In the salad recall announcement, Fresh Express says that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported ten illnesses from 2016 to the present day with the Listeria bacteria variant in the test sample. The company has not linked any listeriosis cases to any of the recalled salad products.
People who suspect they have a Listeria infection should contact their healthcare provider.
