Possible Salmonella Concerns Prompt Voluntary And Precautionary Spinach Recall

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Shawn Stevens

According to the California Department of Public Health, Ippolito International (based in Salinas) has announced a voluntary and precautionary recall of select “Queen Victoria” and “Tubby” bunched spinach.

The spinach affected by the precautionary recall was packed in 12-count and 24-count spinach bunches in cardboard boxes with “Spinach” printed on the side panel, in wire bound crates or reusable plastic containers. The cartons of recalled spinach were also labeled with the following Code Date Stickers which can be located on the outside edge panel of the carton:

  • 10522441 5 205 (harvested September 1, 2009);
  • 10522451 5 205 (harvested September 2, 2009);
  • 10522461 5 205 (harvested September 3, 2009).

The Tubby label was packed only on Code Date 10522451 5 205.

In turn, the individual 12-count and 24-count spinach bunches were bound with a twist tie which says “PLU 4090 UPC 33383-65200.” The twist tie associated with the “Queen Victoria” label has the Queen Victoria logo on it. The twist tie for the Tubby label has a generic spinach band on it.

Of the 1,715 cartons of bunched spinach recalled, a total of 1,515 cartons were packed under the “Queen Victoria” label and distributed to California, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and to British Columbia, Ontario, and Manitoba in Canada. The remaining 200 cartons were packed under the “Tubby” label and distributed in California and New York. The recalled spinach was distributed to retail, food service and wholesale buyers.

Ippolito International immediately announced the precautionary recall following the discovery of Salmonella during routine product testing. It is also important to note that, to date, there have been no illnesses associated with the consumption of these products. Nevertheless, consumers who purchased these products should discard them or return to the place of purchase for a refund. Consumers with questions, or who need additional information on where the recalled products were sold, are also invited to contact Ippolito International at 1-831-772-9991.

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Pistachios Unable To Escape The Peanut Jar

Posted on April 7, 2009 by Shawn Stevens

Nuts. Following one of the largest food recalls in history (involving peanut products distributed by PCA), the pattern may be repeating. Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. (in California), is expanding its earlier recall of 2,000,000 pounds of pistachios to include ALL pistachios produced in 2008.

That’s a lot of pistachios. Setton, reportedly, is the second largest pistachio distributor in the nation.

As the FDA and the California Department of Public Health continue to investigate Salmonella contamination in pistachios, Setton voluntarily expanded its March 30, 2008 recall to include all lots of roasted in-shell pistachios and roasted shelled pistachios produced from nuts harvested in 2008. The Company is also recalling all raw shelled pistachios from the 2008 crop that are not subsequently roasted prior to retail sale.

Because the pistachios were sold to numerous downstream customers, and used as ingredients in a wide variety of foods, the expanded recall will likely affect many additional products, and is expected to result in numerous additional recalls. Click on the following link for a searchable database of recalled products. This database is updated continuously by the FDA, and will likely grow as potentially affected products are identified and new recalls are announced.

In the meantime, the FDA is advising wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and food service establishments not to sell or serve any pistachios (or pistachio-containing products) until the original source of the pistachios can be determined. Companies should check with their suppliers to determine whether the source of the pistachios is Setton. Additionally, consumers should not eat pistachios or food products containing them (such as pistachio bakery goods and pistachio ice cream) until they determine that the products are not affected by the recall. Visit the following link for a list of those products NOT believed to be affected by the current recalls.

As noted, the recalls triggered earlier this year by investigations into PCA were some of the largest in history. Thousands of products and hundreds of companies were affected. In turn, as the current pistachio investigation continues, we will wait patiently to see whether, and to what extent, pistachios can distinguish (or, at the very least, unstick) themselves from peanut butter . . . 

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