Dole recalls salads due to listeria

A listeria outbreak across six states has left one dead and 11 hospitalized, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.

“CDC recommends that consumers do not eat, restaurants do not serve, and retailers do not sell packaged salads produced at the Dole processing facility in Springfield, Ohio”, the outbreak announcement states.

Health officials are now investigating the actual food source of the listeria outbreak and looking for more people who might have been sickened by the said products.

Other Dole products, including fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and packaged salads from Dole’s other processing facilities (with product codes beginning with the letters “B” or “N”), are not part of this voluntary withdrawal. The illnesses were reported in Massachusettes, Michigan, New Jersey, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Ill people range in age from 3 years to 83, and the median age is 66.

There is no evidence to suggest that packaged salads produced at other Dole facilities in the United States are linked to the illness, the CDC added.

A “small number” of PC Organics products packaged by Dole and sold in plastic tubs appear to be affected and include spinach and arugula, said Kevin Groh, vice-president of corporate affairs and communication for Loblaw Companies Limited.

The following brand names: Dole, Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar and President’s Choice.

Also, individuals who may have eaten affected products and who have symptoms of listeriosis are advised to seek medical help.

The outbreak can be illustrated with a chart showing the number of people who were diagnosed each week.

Listeria can cause fever, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms and can be fatal.

Listeria primarily affects the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborn infants. Dole Spinach salad was recalled in 2012 after a sample tested positive for salmonella.

The outbreak has so far sickened 12 people and killed a person in MI, the CDC said in an update to the case Friday.