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dole.com
Dole has voluntarily recalled 2,598 cases of recalled Hearts of Romaine salad.
By msnbc.com staff
Dole Fresh Vegetables has recalled 2,598 cases of bagged salads due to a possible risk from listeria, the Food and Drug Administration announced Sunday.
Dole Hearts of Romaine salads are being voluntarily recalled after one bag tested positive for listeria monocytogenes during a random check by the FDA.
The salads were distributed in nine states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Recalled bags have a product code of 0540N165112A or B, with Use-by date of June 26 and a UPC code of UPC 7143000956. Consumers can find the product code and Use-by date in the upper right-hand corner of the package. The UPC code is on the back of the package, below the barcode.
Anyone who has a bag of the recalled salad should throw it away, the FDA recommends. For more information, consumers can call the Dole Food Company Consumer Response Center at 1-800-356-3111 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.
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.
This is the third 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. On June 26, Dole recalled 1,000 cases of Kroger Fresh Selections Greener Supreme, Kroger Fresh Selections Leafy Romaine and Wal-Mart Marketside Leafy Romaine salads.
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Listeria prompts recall of 1,000 cases of Dole bagged salads
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Leave a Comment:
Too lazy, or stupid, to make your own salad?
I guess without a job, you must have a lot of time on your hands.
Actually, with the cost of the different types of salad greens, it is cheaper to buy a bag of salad. Especially if you aren't going to use all of that lettuce/greens quickly.
The pic above shows Hearts of Romaine. Here's a thought. Would a consumer not think that it's SAFER to purchase lettuce in a container/bag?? Anything non-packaged is going to be touched by multiple shoppers & in many cases... by UNWASHED hands. I use veggie wash for the extras (peppers, tomatoes etc)... but the "base" of my salad is organic Spring Mix that's (already) been washed three times. Not so sure I trust even that to be safe now...
I buy my salad produce at Home Depot..simple tiny package of seeds and grow my own!
Damn big government...getting involved...saving lives...damn big government!!!!
Grow your own lettuce and stuff!! Can't believe how many recalls bagged salads are having!! I know I will be called a racist pig, but seriously, many of the farmworkers (yes, most are ILLEGALS!!) whiz and poop right in the fields! I have a freind who runs a water truck throughout the fields for various AG growers, and he's seen it with his own eyes!! It's more common than you think! They just don't want to walk over to the porta potty as often as they should! It's GROSS!!
You're absolutely right, Jeepgirl! But, you could be part of the solution: Get your butt out there and show them how it's done, with all your sophisticated poddy training, manual labor training and all... plus, you'd be legal!
I know... it's 'Gross!! I'd get all dirty!.
I thought Manual Labor was the newly elected president of Mexico.
ok
Corporate agriculture at it again.
I grow my own sprouts at home - all year. Fulfills most of my lettuce niche and is quite tasty. And yes, I know there have been recalls of sprouts, but the contamination comes from the water used in growing them, not the seed. If you check the FDA webpage, recalls of greens occur at least 4 times a year, and some are deadly. I wouldn't touch US-grown greens because the producers own the USDA regulators (not the inspectors, but the ones who set production-safety guidelines), just like every other US business.
I do not think you could feed LA at your local farmers market. I had the choice to move to a rural area and do well with locally grown stuff but when you have huge areas of dense population it becomes hard to grow your own and even harder for those that are clueless how to grow their own. So I guess we have to have agribusiness as opposed to mass starvation.
@bloggit:
You wrote this:
This is not always the case, where for example contaminated seed fenugreek from Egypt is one of the culprits in the food poisoning event last year in Europe that started in Germany and initially was blamed quite incorrectly on cucumbers and other vegetables from Spain . . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/world/middleeast/30ecoli.html/
In fact this is one of the reasons that it is not safe to eat the "volunteer" tomato plants that grow on sewer sludge, since (a) the tomato seed have passed through the gastrointestinal tracts of at least a few people who have various types of hepatitis and (b) this particular virus survives the sewage treatment process . . .
And for reference, most of the seed production on this planet is controlled by Monsanto and its somewhat recently acquired seed production company, Seminis, really . . .
http://www.seminis.com/global/us/Pages/default.aspx
Really! :-o
Maybe they should consider cleaning the place up For Real and not just a simple spray down. That's Way to many recalls, they need a 2 strikes your out for a year rule and put a stop to this crap.
TIme to shop at the farmers markets
Hate to break it to you...but locally grown produce is also susceptible to food safety risks
One of my professors said it best:
"As a shopper, I don't care what size they are, where they are located or what their production style is - I only want to know whether the person making what I'm eating can manage food safety risks or not. And whether they do it all the time"
This is exactly why Thee is not a salad person.
Yer Pal Always,
Thee
Thee Ox,
"This is exactly why Thee is not a salad person."
Neither am I. I shun all foods that are supposed to be good for your health such as green leafy vegetables. Just give me good old canned and frozen foods, and I'll heat them 'til they boil over to kill anything creepy in them. I may not be healthy, but at least I'm not dying from listeria. :)
Mickey,
Thee Ox believes that you are a person after Thee's own heart despite the fact Thee's heart is probably enlarged due to preferred eating habits that rub against the norm.
Healthy Smelthy - Give Thee something carthinagin ( think thats the word) laden fresh from the grill and don't pass the salad. Thee is gonna go now and fry up 2 burgers slobbered with greasy cheese in a frying pan.
Fecal laden lettuces, indeed. So primitive.
Yer Pal Always,
Thee
Go to a farmers market or at least to a "Sprouts" store if you want fresh and clean food.
It is probably only a matter of time before even Sprouts get his with one of these containimation scares. Everyone else seems to have been hit and they are taking over Sunflower, so they may even inherit a problem.
Last year Orange County, CA, dealt with a scandal at the farmers' markets: many of the sellers were buying produce wholesale and reselling it at a higher price under a canopy at the market. Some were even calling this commercial produce "organic," and getting away with it. If I didn't see the "organic" signage, some would tell me that they were in the process to be certified, but it takes time. To be really sure, I guess I have to grow it myself.
If they insist on hiring the south of the border labor with people that can't speak English and have never been educated about cleanliness or understand about sneezing on stuff or washing their hands after the bathroom break and this is what you. Dole should just shut up , make the recall and lose the money. You get what you ;ay for. Except with Mexicans you get law suits.
ihate,,you have hit the nail on the head,,I lived in Fresno for 20 years,,the so-called "Breadbasket of America",,,during that time,,there wasn't anywhere you could go,,without driving past a field of some sort.If,,you could get far enough into the field and were observant,,you could be witness too,,all the migrant farm workers,,half of which were illegals,,urinating and deficating in the rows.I've seen it with my own eyes,,and the corporate owners of the fields,did nothing to discourage that.They did nothing because they didn't want the workers,,"slacking",,so,,the question is,,,who's to blame.I've seen things in those fields..that defy explanation,,and so,,instead of Fresno being the bread basket,,,it becomes more,,"The Toilet Bowl",,of America
Still think they should force Ag growers to use E-Verify!!! Or a guest worker program. And in order to get hired, you agree to learn some English, throw toilet paper into the TOILET and keep up the hygeine!!
Arthur,
You may want to check a map. Fresno is a bit too far from the Midwest to be considered part of the Breadbasket area.
To Jeepgal66, this is what happens when business laws are deregulated, they are made weaker & the consumer suffers. We need STRONGER CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS.
As has been demonstrated in Alabama, if you eliminate the illegals, your crop may not get picked at all. Alabama passed some law or advertized increased oversight or something and chased the illegals out of the state and then Alabama growers simply cried for legal people to come and pick crops (tomatoes I believe) and the longest any anglo lasted was a week. End result rotten tomatoes in the field. So a guest worker program seems to be the only viable option, but convince all of Congress that? Good luck.
The blame should be set squarely on the shoulders of the producers. Anybody (regardless of nationality) that works in a huge field where there isn't any toilets or clean water to wash with, isn't going to be sanitary. Everybody has gotta go sometime. Don't tell me these huge commercial farms can't put portable toilets on trailers with tanks of water with soap to wash with out in those fields following behind the workers. They could. They just don't want to because it'll cost more money.
They squeal like a stuck pig everytime time a worker stops picking for any reason. It costs them more money if that worker isn't picking. They'll tell you that it's time--the crop has to be harvested in so many days or it goes bad. True, but if they would hire a few more workers that wouldn't be the issue. But that costs money. It's always about the fricking Almighty $. It costs the growers more money to provide basic sanitation & to have enough workers to harvest without treating them like slaves. So why isn't there some outside enforcement of health laws overseeing these big companies/corporations? There is. It's called the Federal Dept. of Agriculture (or FDA).
[Stick with me. I'm going to stray a little here.]
The FDA has been strangled by past under-funding and there's rumors & accusations of inspectors being hampered by supervisors & some being paid to look the other way. This year congress made big budget cuts to the USDA which forced layoff's of 100's (possibly 1,000's) of people who enforce the USDA regulations that protect us, such as food safety laws.
One of these cuts that troubles me the most has led to laying off all but a few inspectors at all commercial chicken processing facilities in this country. Now, they only have inspectors at the end of the line that take a sample of every few chickens & send it off to a lab to check for e.coli & various other nastys. In the meantime, those chickens keep going right on out the door--off to groceries & restuarants, being prepared into a multitude of products from grilled strips for your fajitas to chicken nuggets for your kids. If you eat chicken your playing Russian roulette with e.coli.
This is same thing that has been happening in fields where our vegetable & fruit are grown.
They don't have enough inspectors out there to be able to say that 'they protect the American public'. All the FDA can do now is run around after the fact & track down where 'that bad stuff originated from' & slap hands.
However, this mess is all tied to our economic breakdown & government spending. There's not enough space for me to start on that.
Sooo . . . as for us consumers out here: I'm thinking local grown & your own garden is the safest. Learn how to preserve food [try your County Extension Office]. Or, just keep getting your food where you have been & pray alot. There's just not a lot of choices.
Does Dole just ignore safety laws? Are these the products they grow in Mexico or Chile? They are more concerned with their bottom line then they are the people they sell to. The amount that has been recalled is nothing compared to the amount they sell. I'm just glad we still have the inspectors that go out and check this stuff. The Republicans called for a large reduction in inspections by the FDA and USDA and this is something we, as consumers need. I never use bagged lettuce and normally buy organic when I can, but always make my own salads and tear up my own lettuce. But, even organic can become contaminated. One just has to make sure everything from the supermarket is washed and washed again.
Why oh why are they telling people to "just throw it out"??? Take that bag-nasty salad back to the store and get your money back! I don't know about you, but unlike this nasty salad, money isn't grown-it's earned!
Throw it away. Who reimburses the consumer here? And to the person who called those who use these bagged salads stupid or lazy, shame on you. Many people live alone or with one other person. It is actually more cost friendly to use a bagged salad and in the case of a lone individual, there is less waste when one wants a salad with all the fixins cannot buy all the fixins without there being rot before the produce is used up. I don't want salad every day and frankly, I cannot use up a head of lettuce that fast. And no, cleaning it a drying it and putting it into a bag to use over a period of days, does not ensure freshness.
Would rather waste the money than acquire any type of food poisoning. Been there & it is not nice.
If they use-by date is June 26 aren't they a bit late with the recall????
Yes! I saw that too. I imagine all the bagged salads have already been digested.
Did you know our local farmers market is supposed to sell only locally grown food but doesn't ? I'm growing my own lettuce in pots, however that won't help me come winter.
Well, I doubt they can throw it away now, with the exp date being June 26. They probably already ate it. Good job !
Republicans” and their Stepchild “The Evil Violent Tea Billy’s” are just like a “Listeria Epidemic ”. They are a Major Disaster, Cause Fear, Panic, Chaos, Misery and Destroy anything good in their Paths.
G. O. P. = GREED, OIL, POWER
Just as DNC = Do Not Care. Both parties are a train wreck in progress and neither gives a hoot about the little people in this country, only what it takes to get re-elected and push their useless unachievable agendas.
When is America going to quit buying processed bag salads and make there own. All it takes at most is five minutes. Buy a head of lettuce or a head of romaine make a salad and ENJOY. Until then take your chances.
Five minutes of prep for many people is too much. Also, picking a head of lettuce is simply more difficult that picking a bag of greens. Picking the bag takes no thought. Picking a head does. Now you know that intelligence level and willingness to expend effort of the vast majority of shoppers ... none.
I believe its safer to cook any vegetable, to be safe and make a sort of salad stew. TO ihateliberals-3787409, actually its the greedy owners & managers that don't provide the necessary sanitation. See it one in a while at restaurants also.
Thank you FDA for doing random checks...............it should help more with keeping the supplier on their toes !
I as a consumer want to find out all you discover.
Vegas should consider a new form of gambling, allowing people to place bets on which date the next food recall will occur. Also, wager on odds/evens for the day of the week the announcement is reported.
This is getting ridiculous, like all of us are already playing some sort of roulette just trying to consume food.
OK a definate issue at the processing plant. Since they can not figure it out, best to never eat any of their produce. They are going to eventually harm a child if it hasn't happened already. Did they thoroughly check all of their machinery before the started production again the last two times? Everything should have been cultured.
well i eat in fine high dollar restaurants that are for us rich folks we do not eat like you people so our food is cleaner and fresher than yours
Need to check out the EMPLOYEES restroom, is it as clean as the public one?
altalks21 - Yes.
I hope you're being sarcastic. If not, your majorly deluded.
is Dole too slow or cheap to use fresh water to clean the freekin' veggies ?!?
Jeebus H. , you knuckleheads !!!
To keep these contaminants at bay, you need to wash all produce. Wash your hands before you wash your produce. Wash and scrub avocados - everyone has touched them by the time you do. If you by the bagged veggies, wash them even if they say triple washed. Invest in a salad spinner. Wash your cutting utensils and cutting boards. This is the only way you can be safe from contaminants. Listeria, salmonella, and e coli can be washed away and if they are in meats, they can be killed by high temperatures in cooking. Do not eat rare meats. Here are some CDC guidelines:
CDC guidelines for careful food handling to prevent listeriosis include:
How do you recall on July 1st over 2000 cases of salad mix with a use by date of June26? It wouldn't still be on store shelves and those who bought it have likely consumed it already.
If you vote Republican / Tea Bag this fall, you'll vote to have more and more cases of Listeria and other goodies. You'll vote to reduce the federal government, i.e. the Food and Drug Administration that oversees cases like this. You'll vote to have no new taxes, and yet the price of testing food and the price of personnel to administer food testing and to coordinate recalls of foods will all continue to rise. That means getting less of all of this for the same level of tax money you want because your candidate signed a pledge to cut government spending.
With Obama care upheld there is no need to worry because if you get sick your covered by all the new IRS agents, and just think we could have wasted it on food safety.
I'm old enough to remember back a few years. There were next to zero food recalls until the illegals were allowed to come in at will. I hope our government officials are aware of this, but I'm positive you will not get an honest comment by any elected blood sucking thief .
Funny thing is when I was young,you know If the fruits or vegetables were imported if they were out out season,back then even my grandma took extra precaution's with imported stuff.Now they are stripping away the lables from meat,and sure rest of food to follow soon,so nobody will know where it comes from.Don't know who to sue when this stuff strikes.UHM,good for the Big boys.So people I say grow a pair and force safe conditions in food or we will all suffer.If everybody boycotted a few things at a time together until they get safe they would get the message.Believe me lost money will wake up the right people quick.