Salmonella Spinach Recall by Salinas Grower
A company from Salinas, California, has recalled more than 1,715 cartons of bunched spinach after routine random tests by the Michigan Department of Agriculture found Salmonella contamination.
The Salmonella spinach recall by Ippolito International LP mostly applies to Queen Victoria brand bunched spinach, but it also covers 200 cartons of bunched spinach under the Tubby brand that was distributed in California and New York. In all, the recall affects consumers in 10 additional states and three Canadian provinces — British Columbia, Ontario and Manitoba. The 10 states are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey.
The company said in a press release distributed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that no illnesses have been reported in connection with the positive Salmonella test, which was obtained under the USDA’s Microbial Data Program. The potentially contaminated spinach was grown September 1-3 and Ippolito contacted known distributors of the spinach to tell them to destroy any unsold bunches.
This is certainly not the first time that fresh spinach has been associated with a recall based on findings of Salmonella or E. coli O157:H7. As a leafy green vegetable, spinach has come under special scrutiny along with lettuce and other vegetables prone to contamination in the field or processing facilities. The most notable event was the Dole baby spinach E. coli outbreak of 2006. More than 200 people were sickened, 31 were hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, and five of those people died.
Salmonella, too, has the potential to kill people who are young, old or immune-compromised. Healthy people who get sick from Salmonella may experience fever, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea. If the bacteria gets into a person’s blood stream, it can lead to greater problems, including arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis.
One of the scary food poisoning lawsuit lessons learned in the 2006 spinach outbreak was that pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 can’t just rest on the surface of leafy green vegetables, but they can harbor within the plants themselves — making them resistant to washing.
For reasons of prevention, we repeat more information here about Ippolito’s recall: The 12 and 24-count spinach bunches were bound with a twist tie which says “Queen Victoria Spinach Produce of USA PLU 4090 UPC 33383 65200.”
The “Tubby” product was packed in cardboard cartons with “Tubby” printed on the side panel. The cartons were coded with date stickers. They read as follows: 10522441 5 205 (Harvested September 1, 2009); 105222451 5 205 (Harvested September 2, 2009; 10522461 5 205 (Harvested September 3, 2009).
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