Packaged salad products recalled in 19 states

Fresh Express recalled salad products from 19 states on Monday while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating an outbreak related to the packaged salads that has killed at least one person.

Fresh Express announced in a press release that products from its Streamwood, Ill., factory have the potential to be contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, shortly after the Michigan Department of Agriculture conducted a random sample and found one packaged salad containing the bacteria.

Recalls were made in the following states: Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Indiana, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and Massachusetts.

The recalled products include all use-by-date fresh salad packages with the product codes of Z324 through Z350, the FDA said in a press release Tuesday.

The FDA also announced they were investigating a “multistate outbreak” linked to Fresh Express salad products.

Ten people infected with the outbreak strain have been reported from eight states while one person has died, said Frank Yiannas, the FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, in a statement.

“We will continue to work with our partners and with Fresh Express to determine the source of this outbreak,” he said. “We remain committed to transparency and providing updates as we learn more during our continuing traceback investigation.”

FDA and @CDCgov, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to Fresh Express packaged salad. https://t.co/HWkGESdnHk pic.twitter.com/DkFXeFEH7L

— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) December 21, 2021

The states with reported outbreaks include Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Illnesses related to the bacteria infection have been reported from July 26, 2016, to Oct. 19, 2021.

The bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes, grows on moldy or moist food and can cause listeriosis, a disease that kills 260 people every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fresh Express has halted production at its Illinois factory and is undergoing a review of its process. Customers with the recalled salad products are urged to throw them out.