Salad Items Recalled after Supplier Notification of Listeria Positive Ingredient

Reser's Fine Foods of Oregon is recalling refrigerated salad items (egg salad, potato salad, macaroni salad) of various sizes (3.5oz to 8lb tubs) and various brands (Sysco, Safeway, Walmart, and Resser's) after their supplier that the onions supplied to Resser's tested positive for Listeria.
This is one of those cases where the supplier must be shipping product before they have results back, or perhaps where another customer tested the incoming onions and found that they were positive.  Regardless, the work now falls on the manufacturer to recall the product.

Unfortunately, there have been too many issues with Listeria in produce operations.  Supplier control, especially when those items are used in RTE applications, must focus on how the supplier is controlling Listeria in their processing environment.  Is the environment cleanable to the microbiological level?  Are they monitoring the environment for Listeria?

Reser's Recall Notice
https://www.resers.com/images/uploads/news/Press_Release_FINAL.pdf
 RESER’S FINE FOODS, INC. RECALLS REFRIGERATED SALADS BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE HEALTH RISK DUE TO ONION SUPPLIER RECALL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 10, 2016 

MEDIA CONTACT: LINDA RIEDMAN 503-267-8373 

Reser’s Fine Foods, Inc. of Beaverton, Oregon is recalling nineteen refrigerated salad items due to notification from one of our ingredient suppliers that Listeria monocytogenes may be present in one lot of onions that was used in the manufacture of these salads. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which can cause serious and sometime fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and individuals with weakened immune systems. Healthy people may suffer only short term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant woman.

The recalled refrigerated salads were distributed to retailers and distribution centers in the following states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, NM, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WY, and British Columbia. 

The retail product is sold in plastic containers and is marked with a Use By Date and the #10 at the end of the line of printing.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

The recall was the result of a notification from one of our onion suppliers that the bacteria may be present in one lot of onions used in the manufacture of these refrigerated salads. No other items were manufactured using this lot of onions. 

Consumers are urged not to consume these products. Consumers who purchased these products may take them back to the store for a refund or discard them. 

For more information please contact Reser’s Fine Foods Consumer Hotline 1-888-257-7913 (Call Center Hours: M-F 8am-9pm EST, Saturday 9am-7pm EST, Sunday 11am-7pm EST), or visit www.resers.com (products not available online) or the FDA website: www.fda.gov. 

Reser’s and Private Label products affected by this recall were distributed between March 22, 2016 and April 10, 2016. Products are listed below:

See List - https://www.resers.com/images/uploads/news/Press_Release_FINAL.pdf