Garden Fresh Foods is expanding their recall of fresh-cut vegetables, ready-to-eat salads, slaws, dips, and spreads sold under different brand names for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The original recall in August 2013 has expanded four times; this is the fifth expansion.
You can see the long list of recalled products at the FDA web site, along with brand names, product description, size, UPC number, and expiration dates. The brand names include Chef’s Kitchen, Copperwood Kitchens, Dairy Fresh, Family Style, Farmer’s Market, Finest Traditions, Garden-Fresh, Grandpa’s, Holiday Pantry, Knowlan’s, Maggie’s, Marsh, Martin’s, Old Tyme, Our Own, Rogge’s, Roundy’s, Spartan, Spoon River, Vanee, Weis, and Wong’s Wok. Recalled products range from pasta salads to salsa, dips, broccoli salad, cole slaw, baked beans, egg salad, shrimp salad, dessert mousse, relishes, wheat berry and bean salads, baked potato kits, red onions, celery, cabbage, lettuce, and potato salads.
The products were sold nationwide to retail stores, restaurants, and institutions. If you purchased any of these products, return them to the place of purchase for a refund. The FDA is concerned that some foods may still be frozen in consumer’s freezers.
The symptoms of Listeria monocytogenes may not appear until 70 days after exposure. If you ate any of the recalled products, monitor yourself for symptoms for the next two months. Symptoms of listeriosis include flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Listeria infections can cause miscarriage and stillbirth in pregnant women, who may only have a very mild illness.
The list is long, I have seen it. As local government we are dictated to by the state government to call EVERY retailer in our jurisdiction. That being said, we are not provided with a distribution list. REALLY? How many retail facilities do you think there are in Albuquerque? Not to mention the “Mom & Pop’s”, who buy cheap WHEREVER and redistribute to the poorer population, who are restricted by money and transportation. AND tend to ignore “use by dates”. We know that Listeria continues to grow under adequate refrigeration temperatures. I witnessed this behavior as recent as Thursday.