USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) late Friday issued  a public health alert due to concerns that ready-to-eat (R-T-E) chicken salad products produced by Simply Fresh Market, a Marietta, Ga. establishment, may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.The FSIS pubic health alert said a recall was not requested because the known affected product is no longer available in commerce for consumers to purchase. FSIS’s  concern is that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.The R-T-E chicken salad with apples and walnuts items were produced on Jan. 17, 2022. The following product is subject to the public health alert [view label]:

  • 8-oz and 16-oz. deli hinged containers of “simply fresh MARKET CHICKEN SALAD Apples & Walnuts” with a sell by date of “1/25” printed on the label.

The products bear establishment number “EST. P47170” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to three local markets in Atlanta,

The contamination  was discovered when the company notified FSIS that product sampling reported positive Listeria monocytogenes results.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.

Consumption of food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns. Less commonly, persons outside these risk groups are affected.

About Listeria infections

Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled but can still cause serious and sometimes life-threatening infections. Anyone who has eaten any recalled product and developed symptoms of Listeria infection should seek medical treatment and tell their doctors about the possible Listeria exposure.

Also, anyone who has eaten any of the recalled products should monitor themselves for the food poisoning symptoms during the coming weeks because it can take up to 70 days after exposure to Listeria for symptoms of listeriosis to develop.

Symptoms of Listeria infection can include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache, and neck stiffness. Specific laboratory tests are required to diagnose Listeria infections, which can mimic other illnesses.

Pregnant women, the elderly, young children, and people such as cancer patients who have weakened immune systems are particularly at risk of serious illnesses, life-threatening infections, and other complications. Although infected pregnant women may experience only mild, flu-like symptoms, their infections can lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn, or even stillbirth.

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