Three more people have been confirmed as victims of the seven-month Listeria monocytogenes outbreak linked to packaged salads from a Dole Food Co. plant in Ohio. The case count in the U.S. is now 18 people across nine states. All 18 required hospitalization
and one in Minnesota died, according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Canadian officials haven’t updated numbers for their country since Feb. 2 when there were 11 cases across five provinces. Officials from Dole’s West Lake Village, CA, headquarters did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the outbreak, which is linked to salad products only from the company’s Springfield, OH, packaging plant. Products from that facility have identifying codes that begin with a capital letter A. Dole shut down the Ohio facility on Jan. 21. On Jan. 2 the company recalled all products distributed from that facility. It is not known if Dole has resumed operations there. “The investigation began in September 2015, (but) the source of these illnesses wasn’t known until January 2016 when a laboratory result from a packaged salad collected in Ohio linked the illnesses to the Dole processing facility in Springfield,” according to the CDC. “Whole genome sequencing has been performed on clinical isolates from all ill people and has shown that the isolates are highly related genetically. Listeria specimens were collected from ill people between July 5, 2015, and January 31, 2016. Ill people range in age from 3 years to 83,” the CDC reported. The recalled salads included a variety of leafy greens and other freshcut vegetables. They are packaged under the brands:
- Dole;
- Fresh Selections;
- Simple Truth;
- Marketside;
- The Little Salad Bar; and
- President’s Choice Organics.
