Are you planning to make a salad for your family Christmas gathering? If so, you may want to double-check the label. Earlier this week, Fresh Express issued a recall for a handful of different types of its “branded and private label salad products produced at the company's Streamwood, Illinois facility” over concerns the salad may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The organism can lead to serious infections in the elderly, young, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems.

Recalled salad label; image courtesy of the FDA, www.fda.gov

The recalled products were shipped to retailers throughout the Northeast and Midwest states, including CT, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, ND, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, WI. They were also shipped to retailers in two Canadian provinces, Ontario and Manitoba.A full list of the affected products can be found here. All of the salad items have product codes Z324 through Z350 printed on the front of the packages below the Use-By Date. The recall was issued after the Michigan Department of Agriculture conducted a random sample test of a “single package of Fresh Express 9 oz. Sweet Hearts salad mix with Use-By Date of December 8, 2021.” That sample ended up being positive. So far, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received 10 reports of consumers falling ill after eating the salad. As a result, Fresh Express has halted production at the Streamwood facility, where the sample test was conducted. The company also “initiated a complete sanitation review…and has already been in contact with retailers who received the recalled items, instructing them to remove them from store shelves and stop any further shipments to stores from distribution centers and other inventories.”For now, consumers who have the affected salad products in their homes should discard them immediately or return them for a refund. If you have additional questions or concerns, contact the Fresh Express Consumer Response Center at (800) 242-5472.

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Fresh Express Announces Recall of Fresh Salad Products Due to Potential Health RiskFresh Express salad produced recalled for health risk