One-hundred and eighty one thousand, six-hundred and twenty pounds of Glass Onion Catering and Gourmet Foods' prepared salads and sandwich wraps with chicken and ham are being pulled back because of potential E. coli contamination, the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a press release Sunday.
"FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers," the service said in a statement. "FSIS and the company are concerned that some products may be in a consumer's refrigerators. Because this is a ready-to-eat product, FSIS advises all consumers to destroy the product." The affected products have the establishment number P-34221 on its USDA mark of inspection label
The packages were made between Sept. 23, and Nov. 6, and sent to distribution centers to be sold in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington the release reported the press release reported. The outbreak has affected 26 people who came into contact with the virus anywhere from the beginning of the bacteria's existence Sept. 29, 2013 to Oct. 26, 2013. 15 other people became sick from eating the salads before the contamination spread. The service started to observe an accumulation of E. coli Oct. 29, which further led the department to believe the contamination began in the grilled chicken salads when California officials reported E. coli cases.
"While uncommon to find E. coli O157:H7 in a poultry product, FSIS will continue its investigation in conjunction with the FDA to identify the source of the contamination," the service said in a statement. "FSIS continues to work with the CDC, FDA and state public health partners on this investigation and will provide updated information as it becomes available."
Those who have questions about food safety can contact the service's online representative AskKaren at askkaren.gov 24 hours a day or on their smartphone at m.askkaren.gov.
The USDA's meat and poultry hotline is also available at 1-888-MPHotline 1-888-674-6854 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. eastern time Monday through Friday, as is the 24-hour online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System.
Click here for a list of the affected products.
