South Florida Produce has recalled certain jalapeno peppers because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.
The potential for contamination with the pathogen was noted during a routine test by a retail store, which revealed the possible presence of Salmonella in packs of 2, 10 and 40 count packages, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration news release.
This is the third recall announcement this week related to the same suspect jalapeno peppers.
Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
According to the news release issued by the FDA Friday, no illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.
The peppers recalled by South Florida Produce went to distributors in Oxford, NC; Lake Worth, FL; Washington, DC; Pompano Beach, FL; Fair Lawn, NJ; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada via customer truck March 5-7, 2012, the recall news release stated.
The potentially contaminated peppers recalled by South Florida Produce come in bulk 1 1/9 bushel cartons marked with the lot numbers J000010995, J000010996, J000010997, J000010998, J000010999, J000011000, J000020135, J000020136, J000020137, J000020138, J000020139 and J000030053. These lots numbers appear on the pallet labels located on the front and back of each pallet.
According to the news release, South Florida Produce customers who have inventory of the jalapeno peppers with the above lot numbers are urged to destroy the potentially contaminated product and contact Leslie DiStefano, Director of Sales and Food Safety, at 954-459-0106 to verify receipt of this recall and destruction of the product.
Castellini Company recalled jalapenos distributed from its Wilder, Kentucky facility because they had the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
Club Chef recalled certain salsas because they had the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella from jalapenos, an ingredient.
A random test by the Ohio Department of Agriculture in a store in Ohio revealed the presence of Salmonella in a case of jalapeno peppers.
Correction: The headline on an earlier version of this recall notice stated that more jalapeno peppers had been recalled. The peppers potentially contaminated with Salmonella are part of the same recall.