04/10/2023

Salads Recalled Across Multiple States, Brands

FDA and USDA alert retailers, consumers about positive Listeria samples from Fresh Express and Revolution Farms

Senior Editor

As part of a broader recall, Meijer issued a recall of its pre-made Fresh from Meijer salads.

Grocery produce departments in certain parts of the country are keeping close tabs on salad and lettuce recalls, following reports of potential contamination. The latest food safety concerns are centered on several brands and retailers.

On April 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a voluntary recall of three branded and private label salad kit products from Fresh Express, Inc. The recall followed a positive result for the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, taken from a single sample at the company’s facility in Morrow, Ga.

Sold under the Fresh Express brand and the private label brand from Florida-based Publix Super Markets, the affected kits have a use-by date of March 31 or April 2 and carry the product code GO75. Products were distributed in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. No illnesses have been linked to the products so far.

Also this month, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) arm of the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) published an alert about lettuce and ready-to-eat fresh salads that have likewise been recalled due to possible contamination with Listeria. The greens came from Revolution Farms, an indoor farming facility in Caledonia, Mich., that issued a voluntary recall of its lettuce products after a positive Listeria monocytogenes swab. The FDA announced on April 7 that Revolution Farms expanded its recall to include all products under that brand following an epidemiological link to a multi-state outbreak of Listeriosis. Products under those recalls were shipped to grocers in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.

Michigan-based Meijer Inc. released its own announcement with details about the Revolution Farms recall that includes the Revolution Farm brand and the retailer’s Fresh from Meijer store brand of premade salads. “Meijer is not aware of any illnesses from Meijer brand salad products included in this recall,” the announcement noted.

The broader Revolution Farms recall also includes pre-made salads sold under the Fruit Ridge Farm and Bell’s Bistro brands. Fruit Ridge Farms White Chicken Caesar Salad, Fruit Ridge Farms Chef Salad with Ham, Bell’s Bistro White Chicken Caesar Salad and Bell’s Bistro Chef Salad with Ham, all with sell-by dates ranging from March 10 to April 14, are being pulled from the marketplace because they were made with the recall-affected lettuce. Those items were distributed to stores in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

According to the FDA, retailers have been instructed to remove all of the recalled products from their store shelves. Consumers are advised to discard the products or return to them to the store where they purchased the items to receive a refund.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that foodborne illnesses sicken about 48 million people a year in the United States and cause 3,000 deaths and 128,000 hospitalizations.

Employee-owned and -operated Publix has close to 1,300 supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix is No. 12 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Privately owned Meijer operates 501 supercenters, Meijer Grocery, neighborhood markets and Express locations throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company is No. 20 on The PG 100.