Dole, Fresh Express recall packaged salad over concerns about listeria

Dole Fresh Vegetables has announced a voluntary recall for all Dole brand packaged salads due to a possible risk of listeria.

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The recall also includes private label packaged salads produced by the company.

The Dole-branded and private label packaged salads being recalled were processed at the company’s production facilities in Bessemer City, North Carolina and Yuma, Arizona, due to possible contamination with listeria monocytogenes.

The company is temporarily suspending operations at both facilities to conduct an extensive cleaning and sanitation protocol.

Products being recalled are identified by a product lot code beginning with either the letter “N” or “Y” in the upper right-hand corner of the package and will have a “Best if Used By” date between Nov. 30, 2021, and Jan. 8, 2022.

Consumers who still have any of these products in their refrigerators are urged not to consume the product and to discard it immediately, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Recalled salad items from the Bessemer City facility were distributed in the states of:

Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Recalled salad items from the Yuma facility were distributed in the states of:

Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

No products produced from Dole facilities in Springfield, Ohio (production/lot codes beginning with “W”) or Soledad, California (production/lot codes beginning with “B”) are included in these voluntary recalls.

In addition, no other Dole products, including “ready-to-eat” salad products, fresh fruit, and field-packed fresh vegetables, are part of these voluntary recalls and are safe to consume, the FDA said in a press release.

Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Retailer and consumer questions about the voluntary recalls should be directed to the Dole Consumer Response Center at 800-356-3111, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time.

Last week, Fresh Express recalled several brands of its packaged salad products with product codes Z324 through Z350.

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