USDA alert: Salads, wraps, parasite concerns

[BetteDavisEyes]

USDA issues alert about salads, wraps due to parasites

Washington – Federal authorities have issued a public health alert about more than two dozen beef, pork and poultry salad and wrap products as a precaution due to possible parasite contamination.

The Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says the products, distributed by Indianapolis-based Caito Foods may be contaminated with cyclospora. The parasite causes intestinal illness...

 

[Only4Justice]

This completely ticks me off. We can't eat lettuce anymore? I was already mad about the Romaine outbreak as it is my favorite. I could live on salads! What the heck is going on???

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

The only Fresh Express products I'm familiar with are bagged salads/salad kits that I never buy.

 

[Only4Justice]

So it's only Fresh Express salads? I never buy bagged salad either. I think the romaine outbreak was all kinds of romaine.

Thanks, BDE.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

From the article: The USDA says Caito Foods was notified from their lettuce supplier, Fresh Express, that the chopped romaine used in some of the salads was being recalled.

Sounds like the lettuce supplier is Fresh Express, and it's primarily their Romaine. I never buy bagged salads and have not bought Romaine all summer. I pretty much stick to Earthbound Farms.

 

[neesaki]

I didn’t know fresh express had salads with the meat, or meat wraps with romaine. This article states the recalled items are now out of date, but unfortunately some people don’t even check the dates and probably won’t have a clue about a recall.

Wraps and salads sold at Kroger, Trader Joe's recalled due to parasite concern

 

[Hatfield]

This is all JMO on things.

Since I do a little gardening in backyard I think I know why Romain particularly can become a problem. I grew a Romain lettuce in my garden about three years ago and what I noticed is they grow upwards and allow water to collect between the leaf vines as it drips back down into the stem area. That water can become stagnent over time if there is enough of it in there and it doesnt evaporate quickly. I can see where bacteria can start to grow in the water deposits that accumulate between the leaf vines.

Other more rounder and leafier varieties probably are able to evaporate the water more easily than Romain lettuce does.

For other vegetables and other reports of E-coli I suspect that certain farms may have used a natural fertilizer on the ground before planting which sometimes farmers will spray like turkey manuer or other manuer onto the soil. I have seen it sprayed on a farm once and they mix water with the manuer and spray it down on the ground before planting. Its rich in Nitrogen and a good fertilizer but I think the problem then is after the crops start to grow then when a real natural rain happens the rain can bounce bacteria from the ground back up onto the vegetables. We have all seen what a rain can do when a field is muddy. Much splashing happens. The splashes can go way up high onto the crops themselves.

So long as the vegetables are washed good before eating it would not be a problem but I suspect most of the cases of getting sick the vegetables were probably not washed as well as they should have been.

After hearing all this news I only buy whole vegetables and I try to wash them really good before eating. I avoid Romain lettuce and am careful with any lettuce because of all the nooks and crannies where stagnent water can accumulate in the leaves.

I have a small vegetable brush that I only use it for washing vegetables and I get to really scrubbing on them with the brush. Its a handy way to wash veges good.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I hope this isn't considered "advertising", but here's the product list for Fresh Express. As I mentioned above, I've only seen the bagged salads/salad kits and would never buy them. Fresh Express Salad Kits and Recipes