Ready-to-Eat Chicken Salad and Wraps Recalled

It's another large recall with a resulting foodborne illness outbreak. On November 10,  Glass Onion Catering, a Richmond, California company recalled 181,620 pounds of ready-to-eat salads and sandwich wraps (with fully-cooked chicken and ham) that may be contaminated with the bacteria E. coli O157:H7, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced.

FSIS said that it is uncommon to find E. coli 0157:H7 in poultry products. Since this is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause serious illness, FSIS is advising anyone who has the possibly contaminated product to discard it. 

The products were produced between Sept. 23 and Nov. 6, 2013 and shipped to distribution centers for retail sale in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.  A list of products included in this recall can be found in this news release.  Symptoms of E. coli infection are also discussed in this news release.

In response to the Glass Onion recall, Whole Foods Market's Northern California region has recalled ready-to-eat Artichokc Wheatberry Salad and Southwest SooFoo®Salad.  Atherstone Foods has also issued a recall involving salads and wraps sold in Northern California Walgreens, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods stores.  For the list of the recalled products, go to this Atherstone press release.  

Twenty-six patients in 3 states have been identified with E.coli having the 0157:H7 PFGE (genetic fingerprint) patterns, and 15 of these patients reported eating ready-packaged salads before becoming ill.  A traceback investigation revealed that Glass Onion Catering was the supplier of the products implicated in the outbreak.

Source(s):

fsis.usda.gov  "California Firm Recalls Grilled Chicken Salad Products Due to Possible E. Coli 0157:H7 Contamination"

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2013/recall-065-2013-release

cnn.com "180,000 pounds of ready-to-eat-salads and sandwich wrap products recalled"

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/11/health/grilled-chicken-salad-recall/index.html?hpt=he_c2

fda.gov  "Atherstone Foods Voluntarily Recalls Salads and Wraps Because of Possible Health Risk"

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm374400.htm?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

meatpoultry.com "California catering firm recalls salads, wraps"

http://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/news_home/Food_Safety/2013/11/California_catering_firm_recal.aspx?ID=%7B9049F98C-398A-4C5C-A6FC-E0A45D7DB462%7D&cck=1