Check your fridge: Fresh Express and Dole Fresh Vegetables are recalling hundreds of varieties of packaged salad products over possible listeria contamination and are asking customers to throw them away immediately.
The two recalls appear to be unrelated, but together they affect more than 400 products across dozens of states and two Canadian provinces.
Fresh Express announced Monday that it was recalling some 225 varieties of salads that were produced at its Streamwood, Ill., facility and distributed to retailers in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as parts of Canada. Dole followed suit on Wednesday with 180 product recalls, and it is temporarily suspending operations at its facilities in Bessemer City, N.C., and Yuma, Ariz., for cleaning and sanitation.
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Both cited concerns about possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause listeria infections. Listeriosis is a foodborne bacterial illness that can be especially serious for pregnant people, those over 65 and people with weakened immune systems. Other individuals may experience short-term symptoms, including high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Learn more here from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here's what each company is saying and which salad products they want you to toss.
The strain of bacteria found in a Fresh Express salad matched that from an outbreak that has sickened people across eight states since 2016Fresh Express says the recall arose after the Michigan Department of Agriculture got a positive result for Listeria monocytogenes in a routine random-sample test of a single package of salad mix that was prepared at Fresh Express' Streamwood facility and had a use-by date of Dec. 8.
The strain of bacteria detected in that random sample matched the strain from a listeria outbreak that has sickened multiple people across eight states, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The outbreak has been associated with 10 illnesses, 10 hospitalizations and one death spanning these states:
Illinois
Massachusetts
Michigan
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Virginia
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The illnesses began on dates ranging from July 26, 2016, to Oct. 19, 2021. The FDA is working with the CDC as well as state and local partners to investigate the outbreak.
"Our investigation is ongoing, and we will continue to communicate should additional products be implicated," said Frank Yiannas, the FDA's deputy commissioner for food policy and response.
Fresh Express has halted production at its Streamwood facility and recalled a variety of products that were made there. Those include a wide range of greens, lettuce mixes and packaged salads of various sizes. You can find the full list here (the product codes listed are located on the front of the packages, below the use-by date).
The recalled products were distributed to:
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Wisconsin
Canadian provinces including Ontario and Manitoba
Fresh Express says it has directed affected retailers to remove the recalled items from their shelves and to stop any further shipments from distribution centers.
If you happen to have any of the products in your fridge, the FDA says you should throw them away and not consume them. It also recommends using "extra vigilance in cleaning and sanitizing" any surfaces that may have come into contact with these products, since listeria can survive in refrigerated temperatures and easily spread to other foods and surfaces.
For more information or to obtain a refund, you can call the Fresh Express Consumer Response Center at 1-800-242-5472 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET.
