Papa John's Salad and Produce in Phoenix has issued a voluntary recall of one of its salads due to fears that the line of products may be contaminated with listeria, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The company is recalling its Oriental Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing after discovering it contained sesame seeds from contaminated lots that are a part of the recent SunOpta sunflower kernel recall expansion.
The Oriental Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing has been recalled from the stores where they had been delivered, and the supplier is now working with the FDA and local grocers to remove the possibly contaminated salads from the shelves of locations which may be selling the product. Such stores include Albertsons, Safeway, Bashas and Food 4 Less stores in Arizona, California, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming.
Salads from Albertsons and Safeway affected by the recall, as stated on the FDA website, have a UPC of 78279602691 and a sell-by date ranging from May 18 to May 25; salads sold by Bashas have a UPC of 78279602691 and a sell-by date ranging from May 18 to May 24; and salads sold by Food 4 Less bear a UPC of 78279602840 and a sell-by date ranging from May 18 to May 25.
The packages from Albertsons, Safeway and Bashas are 10 ounces, and the UPC can be found on its left side, while the ones from Food 4 Less are 13 ounces, and the UPC can be found on the top.
Consumers who find they are in possession of one of the affected items are encouraged to either discard them or return them to their store of purchase for a total refund.
As reported by the CDC, listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems. However, in rare instances, persons without these risk factors can also be affected. For healthy individuals, it can cause symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
Fortunately, the listeria contamination was detected early, and the producer took the necessary steps to prevent many of the products from reaching consumers. As such, no cases of the illness have been reported.
