A Minnesota based company that distributes products nationwide to retailers such as Target and Costco has started a voluntary food recall as many of its items could be contaminated by listeria.
According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the company in question, Parkers Farm Acquisition, is cooperating with the investigation and thus far there are no reports of illness from any of the contaminated products.
The food recall, which includes peanut butter, spreads, cheese, and salsa, was prompted when authorities discovered some samples contained listeria.
Consumers that have purchased the products — which have multiple sell-by dates — involved in the food recall, are urged to dispose of the items or return them to the store where they were purchased.
The recalled products are distributed nationwide under the names: Parkers Farm, Parkers, Happy Farms, Central Markets, Hy-Top, Amish Classic, Say Cheez, Win Schuler, and Bucky Badger labels.
Some of the retailers that sell the recalled foods include Hy-Vee, Cub, Rainbow, Byerly’s, Lunds, Target, Whole Foods, Price Chopper, Nash Finch, Costco, ALDI, Wal-Mart, and Brookshire stores.
Food recall! See if where you shop and what you get is effected! http://t.co/OEf3BUMPuJ
— Christy Parks (@christyparks) March 24, 2014
If you shop at Whole Foods, Wal-Mart or ALDI, read this: Listeria is causing a food recall of multiple products. http://t.co/IbREG6p1jc
— NilesHeraldSpectator (@NilesHSnews) March 24, 2014
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website defines listeria as:
“A serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, is an important public health problem in the United States. The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems. However, rarely, persons without these risk factors can also be affected. The risk may be reduced by recommendations for safe food preparation, consumption, and storage.”
Listeria can be contracted by not following food safety preparation or handling and it can manifest itself in the form of sepsis and meningitis, but it can be treated successfully with antibiotics.
If you were to ingest the recalled food some symptoms may include fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea.
For a complete list of all products affected by this latest food recall go here .
As a reminder, the recalled food may not look spoiled or have foul odor, however, it is extremely important not to eat any of the products affected.
[Image via Shutterstock]
