Tag Archives: Dole

Recall

FDA Continues Investigation of Listeria Outbreak in Packaged Salad

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Recall

— UPDATE — January 12, 2022

Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. has now issued a voluntary recall of Dole-branded and private label packaged salads processed at its Springfield, OH (product ID lot code “W” and “Best if Used By” date December 22, 2021–January 9, 2022) and Soledad, CA production facilities containing iceberg lettuce.

–END UPDATE —

The FDA and CDC are investigating a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes illnesses linked to Fresh Express Packaged Salad and Dole Packaged Salad.

Last month Dole Fresh Vegetables issued a voluntary recall for salads processed at its facilities in Bessemer City, NC and Yuma, AZ due to the health risk. The company also temporarily suspended operations at both facilities. The brand names in which the salads were sold under include Dole, Kroger, Lidl, Little Salad Bar, Marketside, Naturally Better, Nature’s Promise and Simply Nature. The products have “Best if Used By” dates between November 30, 2021 and January 8, 2022.

The agencies’ investigation of Fresh Express Packaged Salad resulted in the company stopping production at its Streamwood, IL facility. It also initiated a recall of certain varieties of its branded and private-label salads that were produced at this facility.

The FDA’s investigation into the Listeria monocytogenes outbreak linked to both Dole and Fresh Express is ongoing. Thus far, no deaths linked to the outbreak have been reported.

Dole Garden Salad

Possible Listeria Contamination, Dole Recalls Garden Salads

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Dole Garden Salad

Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. issued a voluntary recall of certain cases of its garden salad over concern of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Although no illnesses have been reported, the company is pulling select lots of its garden salads marketed under the Dole, Marketside, Kroger and Salad Classics names.

The recall was taken as a precaution after a single sample of garden salad tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes in random sampling conducted by the Department of Agriculture in Georgia.

The company announcement states that the product is beyond its “best if used by” date and should no longer be on store shelves. The products were distributed in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.

Dole baby spinach, recall

Dole Recalls Baby Spinach Due to Salmonella Risk

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Dole baby spinach, recall
Dole baby spinach, recall
Dole issued a voluntary recall of baby spinach.

Dole Fresh Vegetables announced a voluntary recall of its 6-oz Dole Baby Spinach bags after a random sample test conducted by the Department of Agriculture in Michigan tested positive for Salmonella. The recalled products were distributed in 10 states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. The products contain Use-by dates of August 5, 2019. No illnesses associated with the recall have been reported.

 

2019 Food Safety Consortium Conference & Expo

Don’t miss this Plenary Session on October 1: Recalls Panel Discussion moderated by Rob Mommsen, Director of Global Quality & Food Safety, Sabra Dipping Co.

Panelists:

  • Don Zink, Ph.D., President, IEH Consulting Division of Foods and Regulatory Compliance, retired Senior Science Advisor CFSAN FDA
  • Craig Wilson, VP Quality and Food Safety, Costco Wholesale
  • Daniel Dwyer, JD, Partner Kleinfeld, Kaplan, & Becker

 

DOJ Launches Criminal Investigation into Dole

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Learn innovative ways to mitigate the threat of Listeria at the Listeria Detection & Control Workshop | May 31–June 1, 2016 | St. Paul, MN | LEARN MOREOn Friday the news broke that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was investigating Dole Food Co. over the Listeria outbreak involving packaged salad. The deadly outbreak was linked to salad produced at Dole’s Springfield, Ohio facility. Although the DOJ has not yet commented on the criminal investigation, The Wall Street Journal reports that Dole reported positive Listeria samples at its facility as early as July 2014.

In January 2016, Dole voluntarily recalled all salad mixes produced at the Springfield plant, by which point 33 people in the United States and Canada had fallen ill with Listeria and four had died. The CDC reported on March 31 that the outbreak appeared to be over and Dole restarted production at the Springfield facility in April.

In a press release on the company’s website, Dole stated that the issues FDA reported at its Springfield facility have been corrected. “We have been working in collaboration with the FDA and other authorities to implement ongoing improved testing, sanitation and procedure enhancements, which have resulted in the recent reopening of our Springfield salad plant.” It also acknowledged that it had been contacted by the DOJ related to an investigation and will be cooperating with the department.

Dole Listeria Batch, bagged lettuce

FDA Traces Three More Listeria Cases to Dole’s Bagged Salad

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Dole Listeria Batch, bagged lettuce

Dole’s bagged salad was the culprit of three more Listeria cases last month. Last week the FDA released the latest figures on the outbreak, which began in July 2015. An investigation was not initiated until September, and the source of Listeria—a Dole processing facility in Springfield, Ohio—was not known until January 2016. The CDC reports that 15 people, all which were hospitalized, in eight states have been infected with Listeria traced back to the Dole facility since July.

On January 21 Dole told the FDA and CDC that it both stopped producing all packaged salads at the Springfield facility and stated that it would be withdrawing all packaged salads on the market that were produced there. The company initiated the recall of the salads, which were sold under the brand names Dole, Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar, and President’s Choice Organics, last week. The bagged salads were distributed in 24 states.

The Public Health Agency of Canada also issued a food recall warning for products made at the Springfield facility. The products were shipped to six Canadian provinces.