Great Value Organic Dark Sweet Pitted Cherry products, possibly sold at Walmart stores in Louisiana and Mississippi, are being recalled for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The cherries were distributed by SunOpta’s subsidiary, Sunrise Growers, Inc. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this product.
The recall is for frozen organic dark sweet pitted cherry products distributed from Sunrise Grower’s facility in Edwardsville, Kansas on August 10, 2017. The issue was discovered during routine testing.
The product is packaged in 32 ounce printed plastic zip top bags and marked with a Best by date of 8/10/19 on the back. The UPC number is 078742126166 and the lot code is FED722211 or FED722212. They were distributed to a customer distribution center in Louisiana and may have been distributed to stores in Louisiana and Mississippi.
If you purchased this product, do not eat it. Throw it away in a sealed container or secure garbage receptacle, or take it back to the place of purchase for a refund. Then clean out your freezer or refrigerator or wherever the product was stored with a mild bleach solution. Listeria monocytogenes can grow at refrigerator temperatures, and freezing doesn’t kill it.
If you ate the cherries, watch yourself for the symptoms of listeriosis for the next 70 days. Those symptoms include severe headache, high fever, stiff neck, nausea, and diarrhea. Pregnant women may only have a mild flu-like illness, but this illness can cause premature labor, stillbirth, and miscarriage. If you do feel sick, see your doctor.
