On Thursday, Milwaukee-based Garden Fresh Foods added another 6,694 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken and ham products to the original Sept. 25, 2013 recall, for a total of 25,748 pounds of those meat products recalled due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The suspect chicken and ham are contained in this long list of Garden Fresh salad products.
According to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the ready-to-eat products being recalled bear the establishment number “EST. 17256” or “Est. P-17256” inside the USDA mark of inspection, and were distributed to retail and food service establishments nationwide. After the original recall last month, FSIS conducted a food safety assessment at Garden Fresh, finding additional product contamination through microbial testing. Products included in the expanded recall were produced between Oct. 10 and Oct. 15, 2013. No Listeria illnesses have yet been connected to either the original or expanded recall. Once a company opts to recall a meat or poultry product, FSIS conducts effectiveness checks to verify that recalling firms notify their customers and make certain the product is no longer available to consumers. As a Class I recall with a high risk to public health, FSIS also posts lists of retail outlets that carried the product once it becomes available. FSIS recommendations for people at risk for Listeriosis:
- Wash hands with warm, soapy water before and after handling raw meat and poultry for at least 20 seconds. Wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot, soapy water. Immediately clean spills.
- Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and cooked foods.
- Do not eat hot dogs, luncheon meats, bologna or other deli meats unless reheated until steaming hot.
- Do not eat refrigerated paté, meat spreads from a meat counter or smoked seafood found in the refrigerated section of the store. Foods that don’t need refrigeration, like canned tuna and canned salmon, are safe to eat. Refrigerate after opening.
- Do not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk and do not eat foods that have unpasteurized milk in them.
- Do not eat salads made in the store such as ham salad, chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad or seafood salad.
- Do not eat soft cheeses such as Feta, quesco blanco, quesco fresco, Brie, Camembert cheeses, blue-veined cheeses and Panela unless it is labeled as made with pasteurized milk.
- Use precooked or ready-to-eat food as soon as you can. Listeria can grow in the refrigerator. The refrigerator should be 40 degrees F or lower and the freezer 0 degrees F or lower. Use an appliance thermometer to check the temperature of your refrigerator.
