Dole has issued a recall for bagged salads over potential Listeria contamination, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) just announced.
Dole Fresh Vegetables said it is voluntarily recalling 1,077 cases of the following bagged salads, which were distributed in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia:
- Kroger Fresh Selections Greener Supreme: Product Code N158 211B 1613 KR04, Use-By Date June 19, and UPC 11110 91039.
- Kroger Fresh Selections Leafy Romaine: Product Code N158 111B KR11, Use-By Date June 19, and UPC 11110 91046.
- Walmart Marketside Leafy Romaine: Product Code N158111B, Use-By Date June 19, and UPC code 81131 02781.
The Product Code and Use-By Date are located in the package’s upper right corner; the UPC code is located on the back of the package, below the barcode.
A sample of Marketside Leafy Romaine salad yielded a positive result for the Listeria monocytogenes pathogen in a random sample test conducted by the State of North Carolina.
Consumers who have any of the remaining, recalled product should not consume it and should discard. Retailers and consumers with questions may call the Dole Food Company Consumer Response Center, toll-free, at 1.800.356.3111, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).
Although the product is three days past its Use-By Date, and it is highly unlikely that any of this recalled product is still available in stores, retailers are advised to review their inventories and store shelves to confirm that no potentially contaminated salads are mistakenly present or available for consumer purchase or in warehouse inventories. Dole Fresh Vegetables customer service representatives are contacting retailers and confirming that the recalled product is not in the stream of commerce.
To date, no illnesses have been reported in association with the recall; however, as we’ve long cautioned, the Listeria pathogen thrives in cold environments, such as refrigerators, and also has a fairly long incubation period—up to 70 days. Listeria also well tolerates heat and dry temperatures, adding further challenges to the pathogen’s eradication and length to expected reporting time frames.
The Listeria monocytogenes pathogen can lead to the listeriosis infection, which is a potentially fatal infection that can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, abdominal cramps and pain, diarrhea, and nausea, especially in those with weakened immune systems, infants, and the elderly. Vulnerable populations, such as the developing fetus, can suffer serious central nervous system problems. Listeria infection can prompt premature births, or the death of the fetus via miscarriages and stillbirths. Pregnant women are 20 times likelier to become infected. Listeriosis can also lead to hearing loss or brain damage in newborns, and can prompt neurological effects and cardio respiratory failure in adults.
Earlier this year, Dole Fresh Vegetables recalled some of its salads for potential Salmonella contamination. In that case, a random sampling revealed a positive result for Salmonella in a test collected and conducted by the State of New York.
