"P" Is For Pathogens And, Now, Potentially 1,000,000 Pounds Of Pistachios
Gone are the days when Salmonella was associated with a few, select food products. Recent Salmonella outbreaks and recalls have involved popular foods such as poultry, pot pies, peppers, pepper (the spice), peanut butter, peanuts and now . . . pistachios.
Following the discovery of Salmonella in its products, California-based Setton Farms (the second-largest pistachio producer in the nation) announced a voluntary recall of up to 1,000,000 pounds of pistachios. The nuts originated from Terra Bella, California, about 75 miles south of Fresno. Although raw pistachios are roasted to a temperature that will typically kill the pathogen, the positive test results suggest that the pistachios may have been contaminated post-intervention.
The products were distributed from California to a plethora of places throughout the United States. The bulk pistachios, typically shipped in 2,000-pound containers, were either repackaged by customers for resale or incorporated into other food products such as ice cream and trail mix. Popular foods, all.
On March 24, 2009, Kraft Foods (one of about three dozen companies that purchase pistachios from Setton Farms) notified the FDA that it discovered Salmonella in the products during routine probing. Working closely with health officials, Setton Farms quickly issued a recall of all potentially affected products. In this case, it would appear, the system worked Perfectly.
To date, there have been no confirmed illnesses associated with these products. Although the FDA has reportedly received two complaints from two people (on the East and West coasts) who allegedly felt poor after eating pistachios, a link to Setton Farms, while possible, has not yet been proven.
As an aside, the Setton Farms voluntary recall is not in any way related to the recent PCA recalls associated with peanuts or peanut butter (from Blakely or . . . Plainview).
So, what’s the potential link between pathogens and popular foods starting with the letter “P”? Probing Question. Given past Salmonella issues associated with other popular purchases -- from Pets (including Parrots and Pythons) to Pet Foods (some made with Pork) -- we all remain a bit, well, Perplexed . . .
