Linked to E. coli outbreak: Farm recalls produce used in Costco salad

The FDA said a farm in California recalled the celery and onion mix used in the chicken salad. The foods range from Thai-style salads to packaged dinners and wraps, and they are sold at Costco, Target, Starbucks and many other outlets, the FDA said.Costco says it uses one supplier for those vegetables in the chicken salad sold in all its USA stores.

USA health officials say an outbreak of E. coli that has sickened at least 19 people in seven states has been linked to rotisserie chicken salad sold at Costco stores. The new finding has prompted the salad maker to recall its products.

A press release from the Washington State Department of Health regarding the outbreak can be found here.

The giant wholesale company was told of the outbreak on November 20, which quickly stop all sales and production of the chicken salad.

The product is labeled “Chicken Salad made with Rotisserie Chicken” and has the item number 37719 on the label.

The CDC said laboratory testing was still ongoing. “This is one of those strains of E. coli that can result in subsequent kidney failure, especially among children”. Victims are from Montana, Washington, California, Colorado, Utah, Missouri and Virginia. That recall shows that even fully cooked chicken is vulnerable to bacteria, if workers inadvertently contaminate the cooked birds with juice from raw chickens, Marler said.

Symptoms of HUS usually set in on the eighth day of an E. coli infection.

It takes an average three- to- four days for symptoms to show, though people typically can get sick anytime between two and eight days.

Health officials are still working to determine the ingredient that caused those illnesses.