Ready-to-eat salad company recalls products due to potential listeria risk

Wednesday, September 21, 2016 by: Isabelle Z.
Tags: listeria, food recall, packaged foods

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(NaturalNews) There are many reasons that a person might want to avoid eating pre-packaged food, and now you can add another to the list as a number of ready-to-eat salads have been recalled due to a potential Listeria risk.

SM Fish Corp., which is based in Rockaway, New York, has recalled the food products, which are sold under the Ossie's brand and have "Best By" dates between August 21 and October 18, 2016. The affected products were sold at their seven stores throughout New York and New Jersey from August 1 until September 9. The company also recalled its ready-to-eat herring salads a month ago for the same reason.

The products that have been recalled were sold in plastic deli containers and include items such as egg salad, homemade tuna salad, pickled herring, lox and cream, honey mustard herring, herring in sour cream, and wasabi herring. The recall came about following an inspection of samples by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A complete list of the recalled foods and further details can be found on the FDA's Recall and Safety Alert website.

The FDA discovered Listeria monocytogenes in several locations in the SM Food Corp. facility, but no illnesses have yet been reported. An investigation is currently underway, and the company stopped producing and distributing its products after meeting with the FDA on September 8.

Slew of recent listeria-related recalls

A similar recall was issued last month for 30,000 cases of Country Fresh vegetable products that include items such as sliced onions and mushrooms, diced peppers, grilling vegetables, stir-fry vegetables, and pico de gallo. The affected products were sold in nine states. The recall was instituted after a product contaminated with listeria was found by the Georgia agricultural department in a local store.

Pregnant women, children and elderly at higher risk

Listeria can lead to serious infections that are sometimes fatal, and it most commonly affects young children, the elderly, and people who have weakened immune systems. It can also cause stillbirths and miscarriages in pregnant women. Healthy people can also be affected, although their symptoms are generally short-term and limited to severe headaches, nausea, high fever, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Food that is contaminated with listeria does not always smell or look bad, but it still has the potential to make people very sick.

According to the CDC, around 1,850 Americans will get seriously ill every year with listeriosis, and 425 of these people will die from it. In addition, pregnant women are 20 times more likely than the average healthy adult to get it.

Many potential causes of listeria infection

In many cases, food becomes contaminated by Listeria during processing. Cold cuts and pre-sliced vegetables can become contaminated by poorly sanitized deli equipment. In vegetables, the contamination can also sometimes be traced to the soil or the manure that is used to fertilize it. Pre-packaged salads and vegetables are often prepared in the same place as ham or chicken salad, for example, which also poses a cross-contamination risk.

With so many products being recalled recently due to listeria, many people find that they can gain some peace of mind by growing their own vegetables and slicing them at home. Although pre-sliced vegetables are convenient, it's really not that difficult to slice your own mushrooms or grilling vegetables, and you can save a lot of money in the process. This also gives you better control over the source of your produce, as many of these convenience foods also tend to be the non-organic variety and are laced with carcinogenic pesticides.

You can also reduce your risk of listeria by thoroughly washing any fruits and vegetables before consuming them, while pregnant women should avoid eating deli meats and soft-serve ice cream. In fact, everybody should avoid deli meats and processed meats in general, as they have been linked to a higher risk of cancer.

Sources include:

FoodSafetyNews.com

USAToday.com

Wonder.CDC.gov

FDA.gov

NaturalNews.com