Another recall involving listeria and food items has been announced.
Southern Specialities Inc. has
Company officials say the products may have been contaminated with the bacteria that causes listeria.
They say they issued the recall after a raw materials supplier notified them that a food contact surface had tested positive for the bacteria.
Marketside is a Walmart store brand.
Southern Specialities officials said they haven’t been informed of any illnesses associated with the recall.
They added it’s uncertain if any of the bagged green beans or butternut squash actually made it to store shelves.
The recall comes a month after thousands of cartons of fruit were pulled off shelves after the products potentially exposed consumers in 18 states to the listeria bacteria.
Peaches, plums, and nectarines sold at stores such as Aldi, Costco, and Walmart
The fruit may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that can cause fatal infections in children, the elderly, or people with weak immune systems. It can also cause miscarriages in pregnant women.
Other people may experience severe headaches, fever, nausea, or diarrhea, according to the FDA.
The agency said no illnesses had been reported at the time of the Jan. 24 recall.
The recall includes nectarines sold in clear plastic clamshells at California Costcos and peaches, plums, and nectarines sold in plastic sacks at Aldi stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Both come under the brand name Rio Duero and are from Chile.
The recall also applies to peaches sold at Maine’s Hannaford stores; peaches and nectarines sold at Market Basket stores in Massachusetts and Fairway Markets in New York; peaches sold at Walmarts in Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia; and nectarines sold at Walmarts in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
It was the
At this time last year, there had been only two listeria-related recalls, both in dairy products, which can be affected if not properly pasteurized. There were 28 total listeria-related recalls of human food in 2018, according to the FDA data.
The increase in recalls isn’t necessarily a bad sign, says Oriana Leishman, MPH, PhD, who works on food safety products as head of the food and beverage program at disinfectants maker Ecolab.
That’s because contaminants such as listeria are increasingly being detected before they can cause a problem for consumers.
“In the bigger picture, detection of all types of bacteria is continuing to get more sensitive,” Leishman told Healthline.
That’s mainly due to technological advances and regulations, she says. It also means companies and regulators are looking in more places for potential contamination and testing larger quantities of food.
“Overall, the food supply continues to be extraordinarily safe and continues to get safer,” she said. “Companies do a good job, supported by regulators.”
Listeria always poses a potential problem.
Leishman calls it a “pretty ubiquitous but known hazard.”
It lives in soil, water, and animal feces. It can get on food equipment and into storage facilities, where it can survive cold temperatures. Heat — like that from cooking — will kill it, but that doesn’t help with foods that aren’t cooked.
“The way to get it out is to know where it is and get it cleaned,” Leishman said.
But things do occasionally go wrong.
If you think you might have eaten the potentially contaminated stone fruit, check if you have any symptoms of listeriosis, such as fever.
If you’re otherwise healthy, just note if symptoms develop.
If you have a compromised immune system, check with your doctor.
Certain bags of Marketside green beans and butternut squash have been recalled over concerns the products may have been exposed to the bacteria that causes listeria.
This recall comes a month after peaches, plums, and nectarines sold in 18 states were recalled for potential listeria contamination.
The bacterium can cause fatal infections in young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. It’s less harmful for the general population.