California-based Taylor Farms Pacific is recalling products containing celery and onions over fear of these products containing E. coli 0157:H7, a bacterium that causes diarrheal illnesses.
The discovery came to light when samples taken by Montana Department of Health tested positive for E. coli 0157:H7 during the Celery and Onion Diced Blend testing.
The same test was conducted by the state health authority for Costco Rotisserie Chicken Salad which has been associated with a multi-state E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak.
Some of the products being recalled are Fresh To Go Bistro Snack 1/7.5oz Tray, CST Celery 1/4" Dice 8/5# Bag, CST Celery Dcd 1/4" 2/5# Bag, CST Celery Sticks 4" 8/5# Bag, CST Celery/Onion 1/4" Dcd Blend 3/4# Bag, CST Turkey Dinner Veggie 6/12oz Bag, TF Chicken Salad W/ Grapes 2Cnt Salad Kit, TF Curry Chicken 2Cnt Salad Kit, and TF-KS Apple Waldorf 2Cnt Salad Kit.
The foods range recalled by Taylor Farms include Thai-style salads to packaged dinners and wraps, which are sold at Costco, Target, Starbucks and other outlets.
Escherichia coli O157:H7 causes diarrhea with bloody stools. Usually most adults recover from its onset within a week's time. However, it may lead to kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), in some cases.
Young children and older adults are more susceptible to this condition.
Washington-based Costco removed the chicken salad from its store shelves across the nation, and posted signs in its stores. It has provided detailed purchase logs to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help the agency track the customers who bought the affected items and the place of origin of the salad ingredients, Newsmax.com reported.
A few days ago, the CDC has announced that 19 people from seven states have been sickened due to the outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 associated with the consumption of Costo rotisserie chicken salad.
Several public health agencies are investigating the cases using PulseNet system to identify the illnesses which may be the cause of outbreak.
PulseNet is the national supplying network of public health and food regulatory laboratories. It is associated with CDC.
Image: Celery products are suspected of E.coli contamination. Photo: courtesy of Digidreamgrafix / Freedigitalphotos.net.
