Stop & Shop Recalls Own Tuna Salad on Possible Listeria

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. yesterday said it recalled store brand tuna salad, sold both pre-packaged in 12-ounce containers and at its service delis, because the product could be contaminated with the bacteria listeria monocytogenes.

The chain said it immediately removed the affected product from its service deli cases once it became aware of the problem.

The recalled items are the 12-ounce pre-packaged Stop & Shop Tuna Salad with the UPC number 0-688267-06663 and a sell-by date of Aug. 19, 2008; and service deli Stop & Shop Tuna Salad with the UPC number 20880380000 and sell-by dates of July 28, 2008 through Aug. 19, 2008.

Stop & Shop said that as of yesterday, it had received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of the tuna salad.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause flu-like symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, and nausea, especially in elderly people, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems.

The product was made for Stop & Shop by Home Made Brand Foods of Newburyport, Mass., according to the Associated Press, which also reported that the tuna salad was distributed to stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.

Home Made Brand Foods had also launched a recall of tuna salad in 2005, according to the Food and Drug Administration's recall archive. In that case, the manufacturer recalled approximately 398 five-pound units that were distributed through two distributors in Massachusetts, Maine, and New York for sale at supermarkets and deli counters. At the time, it also took the further step of recalling 10-lb. and 12-oz. units of the product under the Home Made Brand Foods label, as well as the P & C Food Markets and Weis Markets labels.

Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop employs over 59,000 associates and operates 389 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey.
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