Possible Listeria Contamination in Salad Dressing Causes Recall

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Wednesday, October 29, 2013, that there will be a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recall for broccoli salad kit products, due to concerns about possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination in the salad dressing.

The sum of 22,849 pounds of broccoli salad kits have been recalled by both Taylor Farms Maryland Inc. and Taylor Farms Texas Inc. The salad kits were packaged and distributed throughout the east coast and parts of Texas. The salad dressing packets are the subject of the recall. Taylor Farms had already recalled 5,084 pounds of a similar product on October 25, 2013.

There have been no reports of illness related to the consumption of these products at this time.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a severe infection that predominantly affects older adults, persons with a weakened immune system, as well as pregnant women and their newborns.

Signs of listerosis can consist of fever, headaches, stiff neck, muscle aches, loss of balance, confusion, as well as gastrointestinal symptoms.

“Healthy individuals are usually able to recover from this illness without treatment, but children, the elderly, pregnant women, or those with weak immune systems are more susceptible to developing a severe case of listeriosis,” states Dr. Jason Dobranic, EMSL’s Vice President of Microbiology and Life Sciences. “EMSL Analytical is the nation’s leading food testing laboratory and provides quality testing services for pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes, in our advanced microbiology laboratories across the country.”

For more information about EMSL’s food testing division, please contact EMSL at 800-220-3675, info@EMSL.com , or visit www.EMSL.com or www.FoodTestingLab.com.

About EMSL Analytical, Inc.

EMSL Analytical is a full service testing company providing quality lab services under the same private ownership since 1981. Including the corporate lab facility in Cinnaminson, NJ, EMSL Analytical operates over thirty laboratories nationwide in the US and Canada. The company has an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations, as well as state and federal regulating bodies.

Contact Information

Joseph Frasca

Senior Vice President of Marketing

EMSL Analytical

(1) 1-800-220-3675

jfrasca@emsl.com