**Please note: this recall was issued for product in Canada and the following US states: AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, KS, MN, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY. Check your refrigerators for the product codes listed below, and discard or return lettuce to the place of purchase. When dining out, ask if the restaurant uses Fresh Express lettuce.**
Fresh Express Romaine-based salad products with Use-by Dates of July 8 - 12 and an "S" in the Product Code are being recalled. Although no longer being sold, consumers may still have the expired product in their homes. This recall action serves to notify them not to consume the expired product, but to discard it instead.
Reason: A positive result for E. coli O157:H7 in a random sample test of a single Hearts of Romaine salad conducted by the FDA.
Instructions for Consumers: Check refrigerators for expired Fresh Express Romaine salad with Use-by Dates of July 8 - 12 and an "S" in the Product Code. If found, do not consume and immediately discard it – as Fresh Express specifically recommends consumers should routinely do with any expired product. Consumers with questions may call the Fresh Express Consumer Response Center at (800) 242-5472, Monday – Friday, 5 a.m. – 8 p.m., Pacific Time.
The BC Centre for Disease Control has issued a warning about a salmonella outbreak after several people became ill after eating headcheese. Over the past two weeks, 10 cases of a rare strain of salmonella have been identified among B.C. residents, according to the centre. The only common food consumed by those affected was headcheese, which had been purchased from various stores throughout the province from mid- to late June, said a statement issued Wednesday morning.
Headcheese is a deli product made from meat from the head of a pig, combined with gelatin and spices, said the statement.
"The majority of infected people were elderly, and approximately half required hospitalization," said Dr. Eleni Galanis, a physician epidemiologist at the BCCDC. "There may be other people who also experienced symptoms, but did not see their doctors, leaving potentially more unreported cases," she said in the statement.
Freybe Gourmet Foods Ltd. was voluntarily recalling the product, which is produced by a third-party manufacturer, said officials.
But because the headcheese is sliced and packaged at deli counters in various stores, most consumers may not be aware of the brand of headcheese purchased, Galanis said.
"If you purchased headcheese from mid-June to July 13, and are uncertain if it is associated with this recall, please call the store where it was purchased to identify the brand," said Galanis.
The BCCDC is working with B.C. Health Authorities and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to investigate other possible cases and the cause of the contamination and is urging the public to dispose of any headcheese they may have purchased recently, she said.
**There are now 26 confirmed cases. If you know of anyone who has been sickened, please have them call our helpline at (800) 350-STOP!**
By Denise Lockwood
At least 10 people have salmonella poisoning, and officials with the Kenosha County Health Department have shut down a local restaurant.
An official with the Kenosha County Health Department confirmed that it closed Baker Street Restaurant & Pub, 6208 Green Bay Road, but that official would not comment about why the restaurant was closed down.
However, Tom Stemple, an employee of Tricoli Restaurants, which owns Baker Street, said 10 to 18 people who ate at the restaurant were sick with the bacaterial infection and owner Lou Tricoli was contacting all of his Baker Street employees to get them tested for salmonella poisoning.
“He’s gathering everyone together, trying to interview them to help find out the source of this,” Stemple said. “He’s trying to sort things out so that he can help protect everyone —his employees and the public.”
Stemple said the source of the salmonella is not yet known.
Salsa and Guacamole Increasingly Important Causes of Foodborne Disease
Nearly 1 out of every 25 restaurant-associated foodborne outbreaks with identified food sources between 1998 and 2008 can be traced back to contaminated salsa or guacamole, more than double the rate during the previous decade, according to research released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
"Fresh salsa and guacamole, especially those served in retail food establishments, may be important vehicles of foodborne infection," says Magdalena Kendall, an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) researcher who collaborated on the CDC study. "Salsa and guacamole often contain diced raw produce including hot peppers, tomatoes and cilantro, each of which has been implicated in past outbreaks."
To better assess the role of these popular foods in outbreaks, Kendall and her colleagues searched all foodborne outbreaks reported to the CDC for those with salsa, guacamole or pico de gallo as a confirmed or suspected food vehicle and analyzed trends in the proportion of all outbreaks with identified food sources.
CDC began conducting surveillance for foodborne disease outbreaks began in 1973, yet no salsa- or guacamole-associated (SGA) outbreaks were reported before 1984. Restaurants and delis were the settings for 84 percent of the 136 SGA outbreaks. SGA outbreaks accounted for 1.5 percent of all food establishment outbreaks from 1984 to 1997. This figure more than doubled to 3.9 percent during the ten-year period from 1998 to 2008.
Inappropriate storage times or temperatures were reported in 30 percent of the SGA outbreaks in restaurants or delis and may have contributed to the outbreaks. Food workers were reported as the source of contamination in 20 percent of the restaurant outbreaks.
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