Upd 7: 3 dead from eating listeria-tainted salad. Store brands, 370+ products recalled. HAM, too

NPR reports:

Fresh Express announced Monday that it was recalling some 225 varieties of salads that were produced at its Streamwood, Ill., facility and distributed to retailers in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as parts of Canada. Dole followed suit on Wednesday with 180 product recalls, and it is temporarily suspending operations at its facilities in Bessemer City, N.C., and Yuma, Ariz., for cleaning and sanitation.

CBS adds that since some private label products from Dole are affected, you can’t tell by brand alone whether a product is recalled:

The recall covers Dole and some private label salads with “best by” dates between Nov. 30 and Jan. 8.

The salads also have a product lot code beginning with the letter “N” or “Y.”

And ABC adds that the recall affects over 370 products in 30 states:

Bagged salad being recalled was sold under multiple brands such as Ahold, Dole, Kroger, Lidl, Little Salad Bar, Marketside, Naturally Better, Nature’s Promise, and Simply Nature, Fresh Express, Bowl & Basket, Giant Eagle, O Organics, Signature Farms, Weis Fresh from the Field, and Wellsley Farms Organic.

Recalled products include Mixed greens, garden salad, salad kits, bagged spinach, and many more.  Check the lists below for a complete list of recalled salads from Dole and Fresh Express.

Recalled salads were sold throughout 30 states including, AL, AZ, CT, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI.

No Dole products with production/lot codes beginning with “W” or “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.

This might be a good time to skip packaged salads and kits. 🥴

Thanks to Mathy Kathy who pointed out in a comment below that white vinegar kills listeria, e. coli, and salmonella. I don’t know whether a light spray or a total dousing is required, though, so this isn’t really a recommendation, just an FYI.

A commenter noted that s/he didn’t see Dole on the list of recalled products. The Fresh Express list appears first; you have to scroll down to see the Dole list.

Given the large number of private label products included in the recall, I suggest searching (Ctrl-F) on your brand to see if it’s been recalled.

ninkasi23 commented that 2.3 million pounds of ham and pepperoni were recently recalled due to listeria. The list of recalled products is here.

The CDC website says that symptoms of listeria poisoning might take up to 70 days to appear after consuming tainted food:

Symptoms of Listeria

• Listeria can cause severe illness (known as invasive listeriosis) when the bacteria spread beyond the gut to other parts of the body.
  • Pregnant people, adults 65 years or older, and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk for severe illness.
  • Pregnant people typically experience only fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. However, Listeria infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
  • People who are not pregnant may experience headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, in addition to fever and muscle aches.
  • Symptoms of severe illness usually start 1 to 4 weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria but may start as early as the same day or as late as 70 days after.
• Listeria can also cause common food poisoning symptoms, like diarrhea and fever. People who experience these symptoms usually recover without treatment.
• For more information about Listeria, see the Listeria Questions and Answers page.

They also say that listeria contamination can spread to other items in the fridge:

Follow these five steps to clean your refrigerator, containers, and surfaces that may have touched the recalled packaged salads. Listeria can survive in the refrigerator and can easily spread to other foods and surfaces.

I found a list of recalled private label Fresh Express products that includes the store that carried them:

▪ Bowl & Basket (Shop Rite store brand)

▪ Giant Eagle (store brand)

▪ Little Salad Bar (Aldi store brand)

▪ Market District (store brand)

▪ Marketside (Walmart store brand)

▪ O Organics (Albertson’s/Safeway store brand)

▪ Signature Farms (Albertson’s/Safeway store brand)

▪ Simply Nature (Aldi store brand)

▪ Weis Fresh from the Field (Weis’ store brand)

▪ Wellsley Farms (BJ’s Wholesale Club store brand)

Note that the list includes many popular supermarkets like Safeway, Albertson’s, and Walmart. So if you bought packaged produce at any of these stores, you should ensure that the product isn’t on the list before eating it.