Walmart, Wegmans Affected By Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Cucumbers
Another food recall has hit the grocery industry, this time linked to cucumbers grown in Mexico. SunFed Produce, LLC, announced a recall of whole cucumbers on Nov. 27 because of the risk of Salmonella contamination.
The affected cucumbers were sold between Oct. 12 and Nov. 26 in 26 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, and the recall was initiated after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified SunFed that the produce was linked to reported illnesses.
[RELATED: Boar’s Head, Publix Sued After Listeria-Related Death]
As of Nov. 26, 68 people had been infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella across 19 states, with 18 reports of hospitalizations. No deaths have been reported, but the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), public health and regulatory officials in several states are investigating the outbreak.
“As soon as we learned of this issue, we immediately acted to protect consumers. We are working closely with authorities and the implicated ranch to determine the possible cause,” said Craig Slate, SunFed president, in a company press release. “Here at SunFed, food safety and consumer health and wellness have been our priorities for more than 30 years. We require all of our growers to strictly comply with the FDA food safety requirements.”
Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans Food Markets Inc. released recall information about the affected cucumbers, urging customers to either throw them away or return them to the store for a full refund. Walmart, meanwhile, released a list of stores across 15 states that carried the affected cucumbers.
Additionally, Albertsons Cos. recalled select store-made deli and produce items that contained the recalled cucumbers. Those products were available at Albertsons, Randalls and Tom Thumb banner stores in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
This is the latest in a slew of recalls that have impacted the food retail industry in recent months. On Nov. 16, Grimmway Farms issued a recall of select organic whole carrots and organic baby carrots due to potential E. coli contamination. Affected retailers included Trader Joe's, Wegmans, Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods Market, Target, Walmart, Publix and Kroger.
As of Nov. 17, 39 illnesses, 15 hospitalizations and one death were linked to that outbreak.
In late October, TreeHouse Foods, Inc. voluntarily recalled certain waffle products being sold under Walmart’s Great Value brand, Target’s Good & Gather brand, Kroger’s Simple Truth private label, and many others.
According to TreeHouse Foods, possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination was found during routine testing at its manufacturing facility and the recalled products were distributed in both the United States and Canada.
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