Spinach With A Side Of Listeria? No, Thank You
This month, several companies recalled thousands of their products containing frozen spinach due to listeria. The companies affected were mostly providers of organic products. Amongst them were Amy’s Kitchen, Wegman’s, Cadia and Wild Harvest. People may be in for a rare treat: a side of listeria.
Amy’s frozen spinach products were recalled after a microbiological test done at Coastal Green came up positive for possible listeria, according to Twin City Foods spokesperson Mark Hubbard. Twin City and Coastal Green Vegetable are the main providers of spinach for the mentioned companies.
“We’re cooperating with the FDA and working with our customers on the recall,” said Paul Fanelli, spokesperson for Coastal Green Vegetable Company. “We are an ingredient supplier and we supply to customers who use the products in other items.”
“They have to decide based on their use of the product whether they need to recall products themselves,” Fanelli said. “Our decision was to tell them we had the issue and to inform them as quickly as possible so we can protect public health.”
The total number of products recalled by Amy’s Kitchen amounted to 73,897 manufactured between January 21, 2015 and March 14, 2015. On the other hand, Wegman’s recalled about 12,540 packages of frozen spinach.
Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in children and frail or elderly people. And though healthy individuals may get nothing more than a fever or nausea, listerial infection can cause stillbirths and miscarriages in pregnant women.
About 1,600 people per year get sick from eating listeria-laden foods, according to the CDC. Consumers who have purchased the affected product are urged to not ingest the product and return it at their earliest convenience to the store of purchase for a full refund.
Consumers with questions may contact the retailer where they purchased the affected product.