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More Packaged Salads Recalled Due to Listeria Risk

Multiple brands manufactured by Dole and Fresh Express affected

spinner image image of salad on a table
Yagi Studio / Getty Images

 

Multiple brands of packaged salads manufactured by Dole and Fresh Express were recalled after random samples tested positive for listeria monocytogenes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating the two separate listeria outbreaks, which have caused 26 total illnesses, resulting in 22 hospitalizations and 3 deaths, that matched the outbreak strains identified in the random samples. However, the infections occurred between Aug. 2014 and Oct. 2021.

People who purchased the recalled products are advised to throw them out; to further reduce the risk of cross contamination, the FDA recommendeds being extra vigilant about cleaning and sanitizing surfaces and containers that may have encountered the products. Listeria can survive in refrigerated temperatures and spread to other foods and surfaces.

States where recalled salads were sold

spinner image a map of states affected by the salad recall

List of recalled Fresh Express salads

The recalled salads include an extensive variety of leafy greens packaged by Fresh Express at its facility in Streamwood, Illinois. The products were sold in 19 states at retailers such as Albertsons, Aldi, BJ’s, Safeway, ShopRite, Target and Walmart, among others, under the following brands:

  • Bowl & Basket
  • Fresh Express
  • Giant Eagle
  • Little Salad Bar
  • Market District
  • Marketside
  • O Organics
  • Signature Farms
  • Simply Nature
  • Weis
  • Wellsley Farms

The recalled salads are labeled with product codes Z324 through Z350 printed on the front of the package. See the recall announcement for the full list of products.

Consumers who purchased any of the recalled salads are advised to throw them away. For more information or to obtain a refund, call the Fresh Express Consumer Response Center at 800-242-5472 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET. Refunds are also available from the stores where the products were purchased.

List of recalled Dole Salads

A number of salads packaged by Dole at its facilities in Bessemer City, North Carolina, and Yuma, Arizona, were recalled. The products were sold at retailers including Aldi, Giant Food, Kroger, Lidl and Walmart, among others, under the following brands:

  • Ahold
  • Dole
  • Kroger
  • Lidl
  • Little Salad Bar
  • Marketside
  • Naturally Better
  • Nature's Promise
  • Simply Nature

The recalled products can be identified by a product lot code beginning with either the letter "N" or "Y" in the upper right-hand corner of the package. The salads will have a "Best if Used By" date between Nov. 30, 2021, and Jan. 8, 2022. The full list of products and product codes can be found on the recall announcement.

Consumers who purchased the recalled products should discard them immediately. Anyone with questions about the recall should call the Dole Consumer Response Center at 800-356-3111, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. PT.

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Symptoms of a listeria infection

Listeriosis, the infection caused by eating food contaminated with the listeria bacterium, may cause serious and sometimes fatal illness in adults 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems. Pregnant women and newborns are also subject to serious infections from the bacterium. Symptoms may include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, fever, muscle aches and convulsions, according to the USDA.

People usually report symptoms one to four weeks after eating food contaminated with listeria. But some people have reported symptoms as late as 70 days after exposure and as early as the day of exposure. Listeriosis is diagnosed with a bacterial culture and treated with antibiotics.

About 1,600 people in the U.S. get listeriosis each year, resulting in 260 deaths, the CDC estimates. Americans age 65 and over are four times as likely as others to get a listeria infection.

Editor's note: This article, originally published, Dec. 22, 2021, has been updated with information on the Dole recall.

Aaron Kassraie writes about issues important to military veterans and their families for AARP. He also serves as a general assignment reporter. Kassraie previously covered U.S. foreign policy as a correspondent for the Kuwait News Agency’s Washington bureau and worked in news gathering for USA Today and Al Jazeera English.

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