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Subscribe to RSSDole Fresh Vegetables has recalled 1,077 cases of bagged salads sold at Kroger and Wal-Mart stores in six states because of concerns about potential listeria contamination.
No illnesses have been reported in association with the recall. The products carry a best-use date of June 19, 2012, and should have already been removed from retailers' shelves, but consumers should make sure they don't have the products at home.
The products being recalled are Kroger Fresh Selections Greener Supreme coded N158 211B 1613 KR04 and UPC 11110 91039; Kroger Fresh Selections Leafy Romaine coded N158 111B KR11 and UPC 11110 91046 and Wal-Mart Marketside Leafy Romaine coded N158111B and UPC code 81131 02781.
The product code and use-by date are in the upper right-hand corner of the package; the UPC code is on the back of the package, below the bar code. The salads were distributed in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The precautionary recall was initiated after a product in North Carolina tested positive for listeria, Dole officials said in a press release.
Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogen that can cause foodborne illness, particularly in pregnant women and adults with weakened immune systems. Symptoms of infection may include fever, muscle aches and stomach problems including nausea and diarrhea.
Dole officials are cooperating with the federal Food and Drug Administration. This is the second time in three months that Dole has recalled bagged salad because of contamination concerns. On April 14, the company recalled 756 cases of Seven Lettuces Salad because of potential salmonella contamination.
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When you let dirty foreigners do the handling what do you expect. The sanitary habits of these people leave a lot to be desired. Of course the same thing can happen if the American workers are hired and the lax of strict cleanliness standards aren’t followed. You see it has nothing to do with who is doing the work but whether the company is following and enforcing cleanliness standards.
Dirty foreigners??? What is your evidence. You, by the way are also a foreigner. Dumb a--.
I am sure they meant dirty illegals.
Guess that is what happens when you support slave labor and import fresh foods all the way from Chilie!
Check it out if the produce say Grown BY the USA compared by Grown in the USA.
Grown BY the USA simply indicates that a US company owns the farm/orchard but does not always imply that it is grown on or close within US soil.
The government is conspiring with Dole to try and kill me. They know I have to eat like a rabbit, to screw like one!
It's true! I have a freind who runs a water truck up and down the big farms around here, where Dole is based. He sees it ALL the time! It's easier to just whip it out or squat for these illegals than to walk over to the porta potty! They are used to doing that from where they came from anyway! They NEED to be shown proper hygeine!
Agree, but it's the liberals who want to make the laws stricter and enforced.
Always takes one jerk to bring up politics in to something like this!
Again?? Fortunately, I buy loose leaf lettuce, not bagged. Plus it's locally grown. I never buy bagged anymore, as it also spoils so quick.
I agree! Bagged lettuce always smells musty, and most of the recalls seem to apply only to the bagged, "pre-washed" (yeah, it was washed a couple weeks ago...when it was bagged) variety.
I decided many recalls back that it was not worth the risk. Glad I have stuck to my guns and have removed the convenience of bagged salad out of my life. Just always sitting back and wondering "what is next?" I am still avoiding cantelope since the listeria outbreak last year in Colorado. I guess we all will just starve to avoid illness eventually.
This is what happens when you loosen restrictions on huge corporations and turn food distribution into a profit-motivation rather than a public health issue. Buy and eat LOCAL, and destroy giant food mega-factories which are just breeding grounds for disgusting disease and filth
You are told to eat healthy but it seems to be the fruit and vegetable that are constantly getting contaminated. When is the big recall on the Big Mac going to happen. This mess isn't exactly encouraging anyone to run out and eat fruits and veggies. It's time for us to develop green thumbs and produce in our own back yards. This stuff is getting ridiculous.
Since there hasn't been many food born illnesses linked to Big Mac's and you should already know the other health problems attributed to the Mac's like high cholesterol and obesity why would you think the FDA should recall them? that's like calling on the ATF to recall alcohol because your neighbor has a drinking problem
MAC D does not cause Obesity!
POOR CHOICES AND HABITS DO! YOU don't have to pull into the FF lane or parking lot ya know!
I meahn do you really need to order a triple burger, severely coated chicken and a large soda? Plain old burger will fill you too---and there's always the choice of salad there!
This can only be fixed by deregulating them more!
and by taking away the enforcement mechanism!. DUH.
Listeria monocytogenes is a pretty nasty bacteria that can survive a long time on food and cause some bad infections. Diary, cheese, veggies, fish, birds, cows, and humans... it's all over the place. It doesn't matter if you buy your produce local or from big box stores you need to wash it, and learn how to handle foods safely. Local organic foods can just as easily have contaminants like Listeria, E. coli, or Salmonella. Blaming liberals, immigrant workers, capitalists, or aliens from space is pretty ignorant. Our country is in real trouble because everyone is too quick to judge others and too lazy to learn real facts. Go to sites like the CDC, NIH, or even Wikipedia and read about food borne illnesses and what causes them and how to protect yourself. It is hard to sometimes prevent, and there are some very bad practices going on in the food industry but the local farmer is just as likely to accidentally pass on contaminated produce as the mega farms. As for calling someone dirty because they came to our country looking for a better life is just mean, ignorant, and frankly un-American. - Sincerely the pinko liberal who reads books and studies science.
Perci - thanks for the very helpful information. Question - does cooking fresh vegetables eliminate the risk?
Yes, cooking readily kills listeria bacteria. The problem is that cooked lettuce doesn't taste so good in a salad.
Listeria is also controlled by keeping food at a low temperature (<5C) to control growth of the bacteria.
The reality is that you can't avoid Listeria - is lives in dirt, foods, animals, birds... You can only minimize the exposure.
...Belive it or not, "bagged" veggies are vacuum packed. If the jerks at the store would leave them alone, the bags would STAY FRESH per dated. The produce clowns shorten life by shaking and loosening the contents. AIR does get in...I've had bags of veggies stay fresh 5 days after date at 38*...
God Bless America... AGAIN...KEEP THEM
Jimbo I have worked in lettuce processing plants for years and I have never seen bagged greens vacuum packed. They are harvested at night and thrown into plastic lined bins. Then they are triple washed and partially sterilized with a variety of common chemicals similar to bleach, but very dilute. They spin 'em and fill bags on an assembly line. It's a food safety crap shoot!
You nailed it though the key to freshness is the cold chain, but that does nothing to mitigate a bacterial contamination.
And let us not forget that lovely water spray that cause veggies to get mushy once bagged to go. All it does is add weight and higher price to the produce and WASTE WATER!
I have dole coleslaw and have had stomach problems since eatting it. Where can u get it tested???
I have Dole bagged coleslaw and have been having stomach problems after eatting it, where can u have it tested??
The coroner will test it.
When will the government realize Dole products are contaminated, when people die! Dole is not fixing the problem. At some point their system is flawed.
I suggest we boycott ALL Dole products until they clean up their act.
Correction FRED,
All will remain until Dole comes back to planting in the ole US of A and stops promoting slave labor in Chilie.
I am sorry but do we really need to have Mangos available all year round? Do we really need the convenience of Bagged salad that goes bad 2 days after ya open the bag and do we really need more prepackaged foods for convenience with a high price!
When did it become too much of a chore to make a salad? Geez, you tear some leaves from a head of lettuce and dump it into a bowl. It probably takes only seconds more than opening a bag of salad and then dumping it into a bowl.
I like mixed greens for my salad- but I still rinse them well before eating. I hope you rinse your lettuce before you put in in that bowl too, or you could pick up a bug just as easily...
If you're too lazy to cut and toss your own salad, you deserve every illness those little bags can carry.
It's getting to the point where it would be easier to make a list of items that don't have a food safety issue of contamination.
GMO's and Food/produce grown in a foreign nation that must travel by ship or air for days before reaching the distribution trucks that carry them for a few days more!
Stay away from DOLE!!! Stay away from bagged salads. Buy fresh, whole produce which you can inspect before buying. DOLE romaine hearts almost killed me. When it comes to produce, never buy it in a bag. Always buy open and fresh and inspect it well.
What is it with the U.S. - every month or every so many weeks its melons, that are contaminated, or salads, or ground turkey, or beef? Is there no more pride in doing things right, proper cleaning, employees washing hands, using sanitary methods of packaging? Has the whole world gone so crazy for money that any company, or induvidual employee will take short cuts for money to make bigger profits? Its getting where you can't trust any food in America anymore. There are no more standards, no self pride, no concern for self respect or reputation among any business.
This explains why I was so sick for 2 weeks. Thanks Dole. I look for Grown IN the USA and Dole says that. No more for me, fresh leaf lettuce, unpacked and romaine lettuce, unpacked! WTG DOLE!
We all need to grow victory gardens. This will help lower the cost of produce and make us healthier.
unless your neighbor craps in your garden.
Our victory deer thought the tomato plants (not the fruit, but the actual plants) we planted last year were quite delicious.
I never liked Dole bagged salad compared to other brands. First, it smells funky when you open it. It could be a week before the 'sell by' date or the day before - always that funked up smell...ewwww....and then they fill more than HALF the bag with what I call 'garbage'; which are all the spines and ribs of the lettuce leafs but not so many actual lettuce leafs. I just buy regular romaine and some red cabbage and rip it up myself - no strange smells and no garbage. It comes out to about the same price, even less. If you have to buy bagged lettuce, I suggest FRESH EXPRESS...they live up to the name. Still, some garbage pieces in there, but not as much as Dole. I haven't purchased Dole bagged salad for a long time now. I'll give them thumbs up regarding their bananas and pineapples, but not much to screw up...they are in nature's perfect packaging already!!! Keep eating healthy everyone! :)
Another reason to stick with a big juicy steak dinner. Never had to vomit being a meat eater!
Why are some people bashing Democrats here? Dole is a Republican.
One might hope that everyone knows the rules by now, but for the slower folks, this is the way it works:
(1) In late-Fall the production of leafy vegetables moves to the desert states of New Mexico and Arizona where there are no high-intensity cattle feedlots, bugs, insects, roaming wild boar, and so forth and so on, because it is the desert . . .
(2) In early-Spring the production of leafy vegetables moves to California where there high-intensity cattle feedlots, bugs, insects, roaming wild boar, and so forth, because it is not the desert . . .
Hence, the following rule:
When the production of leafy vegetables is in the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona, leafy vegetables are on the Baldenario Approved for Novices Menu™, but when the production of leafy vegetables moves to California, leafy vegetables are removed from the Baldenario Approved for Novices Menu . . .
However, if you cook leafy vegetables for 10 minutes or longer at 165 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter, then it is toasted salad time year-round, unless you are concerned about prion diseases, in which case cooking leafy vegetables with an acetylene welding torch for several hours can be effective in some scenarios, really . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion#Sterilization
Really! :-o
I'm sure there are schools that can teach people how to cut lettuce and carrots to make a salad, if the people do not have that technology. Otherwise, if you're too stupid or lazy to cut a few vegetables and wash them to ensure cleanliness, go ahead and take your chances with a very dangerous biogen.
Just because someone buys a bagged salad doesn't mean they are lazy or stupid....really, you've never bought prepared food in your life? What about cold cuts, chicken etc? Or do you slaughter the cow yourself?
You don't? What a STUPID and LAZY person you are.
There was a Listeria breakout from a meat processing plant in Toronto 4 years ago that killed 22 peeople.
Okay, morons aside, just because you "buy local" or make your own salad will not make you immune to harmful bacteria. It helps somewhat, but try not to feel so smug and superior.
A lot also is what kinds of fertilizer is the grower using on the fields. Many spray their fields with water taken from feedlot ponds and other places that have numbers of animals housed with lots of waste to dispose of and can be cheap. This even applies to places labeled organic. In some cases it does matter if workers practice good bathroom habits but it isn't the only way produce gets contaminated. There is a reason factory farms medicate the large numbers of animals they house. Stress lowers the resistance to disease. What is done with all that waste they produce is it gets used on farm fields and some contaminates ground water, lakes and rivers used to water crops.