FDA issues urgent warning over salads that contain deadly diarrhea-causing germ

Daily Mail​

17-06-2025

An urgent warning has been issued over a salad kit that contains a potentially deadly diarrhea-causing bacteria.
Food companies across the nation have recalled lots of salad kits linked to a salmonella outbreak involving cucumbers that has sickened over two dozen people.
California-based Reser's Fine Foods is the latest company to recall 123 salad kits that were distributed to delis across Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. All retail locations have been notified and are removing the product from the shelves.
This recall is just the latest, however. Last month Idaho-headquartered Albertsons Companies recalled three types of Greek salad-based deli items sold at stores such as ACME and Safeway in 13 states.
No other products produced by either company have been impacted and as of yet, there have been no reported illnesses.
The recalls were prompted by another issued last month involving cucumbers produced by Florida-based Bedner Growers, Inc. that were potentially contaminated with salmonella.
Salmonella is an infection contracted from eating foods contaminated with animal feces. It typically causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps that begin six hours to six days after initial infection.
Most people recover within days, though the illness is responsible for more than 26,000 hospitalizations and 400 deaths a year.
The recalled products from Reser's Fine Foods include a Greek salad kit with the item code 407079 and UPC 13454.38482. The packages include the use by dates of 05/30/25, 05/31/25, 06/02/25, and 06/03/25.
The Greek salads from Albertsons Companies can be identified with the UPCs 29307000000– 00901, 29248300000 and 29232900000.
Shoppers who purchased the wholesale salad kits from Reser's Fine Foods should return it to the retailer for a full refund.
The FDA has advised anyone who falls ill after eating the product to contact local health authorities.
Most people sickened with salmonella suffer from a four to six-day illness that causes stomach cramps, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
But officials warn children under five years and adults over 65 years old are more at risk from the bacteria because they have a weaker immune system.
In serious cases, the bacteria can cause bloody stools and prolonged vomiting. People can die from salmonella via dehydration or if the bacteria enters the bloodstream, which can lead to sepsis — a life-threatening reaction.
The recalls come off the back of that by Florida-based Bedner Growers, Inc., which pulled all cucumbers sold at Bedner's Farm Fresh Market.
The recalled cucumbers were sold to consumers at three Bedner's Farm Fresh Markets locations in Florida (Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and West Palm Beach).
They were also sold to a wholesalers, restaurants, retailers and distribution centers.
Officials found salmonella bacteria from samples on the farm that matched samples from people who got sick.
The FDA said because the recalled cucumbers don't have specific stickers or labeling, customers should discard and not consume any cucumbers purchased from these locations between the affected dates.
The tainted cucumbers have been linked by the FDA to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 45 people in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Sixteen of the patients have been hospitalized, and 11 out of 13 patients who were interviewed reported eating cucumbers.
The CDC said several people who fell ill ate the cucumbers on cruise ships leaving ports in Florida, though officials are investigating where the potentially contaminated cucumbers were distributed.
The FDA warned: 'Cucumbers may have been sold individually or in smaller packages, with or without a label that may not bear the same brand, product name, or best by date.
'For distributors, restaurants, and retailers who have purchased these cucumbers, the products were labeled as either being 'supers,' 'selects,' or 'plains.''
The outbreak was detected as part of a follow-up inspection in April to a 2024 outbreak that sickened 551 people and led to 155 hospitalizations in 34 states and Washington, D.C.
In that outbreak, investigators found salmonella bacteria linked to many of the illnesses in untreated canal water used at farms operated by Bedner Growers and Thomas Produce Company.