Parkers Farm, a Minnesota company, is recalling a number of refrigerated products, including peanut butter, cheese, salsa, and spreads, after some of the product tested positive for Listeria. No illnesses have been reported.
According to the FDA recall notice, products are distributed nationwide under the Parkers Farm, Parkers, Happy Farms, Central Markets, Hy-Top, Amish Classic, Say Cheez, Win Schuler, and Bucky Badger labels. These products were sold at several retail stores including but not limited to Hy-Vee, Cub, Rainbow, Byerly’s, Lunds, Target, Whole Foods, Price Chopper, Nash Finch, Costco, ALDI, Wal-Mart, and Brookshire stores.
What we can surmise: the company produced a line of refrigerated products including peanut butter – yes, refrigerated peanut butter, and cheese spreads. While it could be expected that Listeria would not grow in peanut butter because of low water activity (Aw), peanut butter could have become contaminated if that product was produced using shared equipment (that was not properly cleaned) or through bad handling and processing practices that led cross contamination. One would guess that the cheese spreads would also be unlikely to support the growth of Listeria (low Aw) and the same could be guessed about the salsa (low pH). But Listeria could be brought into the facility from the ingredients used to make the cheese products, or through other means, and then survived in a niche within the processing environment, especially f there was build-up of residual cheese ‘stuff’ in the processing environment or on the equipment. This notion is supported by the fact that this is the second recall due to Listeria (the last in 2010….of course this begs the question to what degree was the company putting the effort towards control).
It would be interesting to see if this was the same Listeria strain found in both recalls. I would be willing to bet it is the same strain. Work done at Penn State has shown Listeria’s ability to form a resistant state that can survive for long periods of time. In other recall situations, whole genome sequencing has verified that the same organism, outside of a few changes of base pairs in the whole genome, can re-emerge after years within that same processing environment.
So while none of the finished products may be viewed as risky for the growth of Listeria (due to low Aw or low pH), this does not preclude the organism from being present on the product. And here again, we have a scenario where a positive product test triggers a recall on what would probably be viewed as a lower risk product.
FDA Recall Notice
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm390421.htm
Recall -- State Press Release
FDA posts press releases and other notices of recalls and safety alerts from states as a service to consumers, the media, and other interested parties. FDA is not responsible for the content of these notices.
Parkers Farm Acquisition, LLC Issues Voluntary Recall of Products Due to Listeria Contamination
Contact
Consumer:
800-869-6685
Media:
Margaret Hart,
margaret.hart@state.mn.us,
651-201-6131
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 22, 2014 - The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is alerting consumers to avoid eating certain peanut butter, cheese, salsa, and spreads produced by Parkers Farm Acquisition, LLC of Coon Rapids, Minnesota, after state agriculture department product sampling determined some of the finished products to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria.
There have been no reports of illness associated with consumption of the products. Parkers Farm Acquisition, LLC is cooperating with the MDA investigation and has issued a voluntary recall of all products with the “sell by” dates listed below. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged to return them to the place of purchase or discard them.
The list of recalled products includes:
[PDF - 248 pages]