Possible listeria contamination prompts BrightFarms spinach, salad kit recall

BrightFarms said on Wednesday that possible Listeria contamination led the company to recall some of the New York-based company’s baby spinach and salad kits in seven states.

The greens that could have Listeria monocytogenes include four-ounce BrightFarms Baby Spinach containers with certain January by-dates and UPC codes, as well as some BrightFarms Mediterranean, Chickpea Caesar, Bacon Ranch “Crunch” salad kits and Southwest kits of varying UPC codes, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Supplier Element Farms receiving positive test results for the bacteria during routine sampling of spinach led BrightFarms to start the recall, the FDA said.

The baby spinach under recall came from Element Farms, according to the FDA. Meanwhile, the recalled salad kits could potentially have become cross-contaminated at a BrightFarms facility in Pennsylvania.

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“We issued this voluntary recall out of an abundance of caution because the health and safety of our consumers is always our number one priority,” BrightFarms said on its website.

BrightFarms recalled certain Southwest Chipotle salad kits, along with some other products (Food and Drug Administration/BrightFarms)

Eating food that has listeria bacteria in it can lead to listeriosis, an infection “most likely to sicken pregnant women and their newborns, adults aged 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Symptoms commonly include fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

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Nobody has become ill from the spinach or salad kits, according to the company.

Retailers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia received shipments of the recalled greens, the FDA said.

A BrightFarms Chickpea Caesar Crunch salad kit (Food and Drug Administration/BrightFarms)

“Retailers have been instructed to remove all recalled products from store shelves,” the FDA said. “Consumers who have purchased the affected products should not consume the products and discard them or present a photo of the product or receipt to their place of purchase for a full refund and then discard.”

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BrightFarms said that it has “temporarily suspended the distribution of Element Farms-grown spinach until we are satisfied that the issues have been fully corrected.” The supplier is investigating the potential contamination, according to BrightFarms.

The company said other products it offers have not been impacted.