Reser's recall over Listeria concerns expands

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Reser’s have expanded a recall of salad products sold across Canada that may be contaminated with Listeria.

The expanded recall affects 29 salad products — including varieties of potato salad, coleslaw, macaroni salad, spinach dip, four bean salad and salad dressing — manufactured by Reser's Fine Foods Inc., of Beaverton, Ore.

The recalled salads have best before dates into November, followed by the plant identifier code "20" on their labels. The full list is available on the CFIA's web site.

The recalls affect products distributed across Canada and the United States.

The Associated Press reported earlier this week that Reser's recalled 109,000 cases of refrigerated prepared salads and other ready-to-eat foods over concerns of contamination with the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the listeria was detected through microbiological testing by Canadian health authorities.

U.S. officials traced the contamination to Reser's plant in Kansas. The company in a recall notice that the U.S. FDA found Listeria in the plant, and the possibility of cross-contamination having occurred launched the recall effort.

Recall began Oct. 5

The recall began Oct. 5, when it was limited to cheesy macaroni salad with best before dates of Oct. 20 that were sold in Walmart stores in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and nationally in Loblaw stores. On Oct. 21, the cheesy macaroni salad recall expanded to include the best before date of Nov. 2.

On Oct. 23, the recall expanded to include a long list of salad products sold in grocery stores, as well as a number of products — salsa, carrot and raisin salad, cucumber and onion salad, pasta salads, spiced apples, potato salads and more — sold to hotels, restaurants and institutions either unbranded or under the brand names Block & Barrel, Mrs. Giles, Classic SYSCO or Reser's Fine Foods.

The following day, the CFIA posted a correction notice for certain UPC codes listed in the recall, and noted that some of the recalled products were sold under the brand names Market Pantry and Stonemill Kitchens.

Consuming Listeria can lead to the illness listeriosis, which can cause a high fever, severe headache, a stiff neck and nausea. Listeriosis can also lead to premature delivery or miscarriage in pregnant women, and can be a serious illness for those with weakened immune systems.

The CFIA says there have been no reports of illnesses.