US-based producer and marketer of fruit and fresh vegetables Dole Food is recalling 1,077 cases of bagged salads across six states in the US,due to a possible health risk from Listeria monocytogenes.
The recall was initiated after a random testing conducted by the North Carolina state revealed that a sample of Marketside Leafy Romaine salad was contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The salads were sold at Kroger and Wal-Mart stores across Georgia,Kentucky,North Carolina,South Carolina,Tennessee and Virginia,under Kroger's Fresh Selection label and Wal-Mart's Marketside labels.
According to the company,all the affected products carry a use-by date of June 19,2012,and hence,there is a low probability that they are available at the retailers.
The products affected by the recall are Kroger Fresh Selections Greener Supreme coded N158 211B 1613 KR04 with UPC 11110 91039;Kroger Fresh Selections Leafy Romaine coded N158 111B KR11 with UPC 11110 91046;and Wal Mart Marketside Leafy Romaine coded N158111B with UPC code 81131 02781.
Till date,no illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this recall.
Dole Food has noted that it is coordinating closely with regulatory authorities,and added that its customer service representatives are working with retailers,in order to ensure that the recalled products are not available in the marketplace.
It has requested consumers who have purchased the products with these codes to discard them.
In 2011,Listeria-contaminated cantaloupes from Jensen Farms,Colorado,led to 146 cases of illnesses and thirty deaths across the US,one of the deadliest Listeria outbreaks in the nation.
Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can lead to foodborne illness known as Listeriosis in a person who consumes a food item contaminated with it,and the symptoms of infection may include fever,muscle aches,gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea.
