Over 75,000 pounds of packaged salad products were recalled from American homes and stores after seven people were hospitalized and two of the patients developed kidney failure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday.
Missa Bay LLC, a New Jersey company, issued the voluntary recall of 75,233 pounds of salad products that contain meat or poultry because the lettuce may contain the bacteria E. coli, the USDA said in a Thursday statement. The products were produced from Oct. 14 through Oct. 16.
The Maryland Department of Health first collected a package of the chicken Caesar salad from one affected person’s home and found that the lettuce tested positive for E. coli. An investigation is ongoing to determine the source of the contamination.
As of Nov. 18, 17 people in eight states have been infected with E. coli so far, according to the CDC. There have been no reported fatalities. The products were shipped to Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The recall affects more than 30 packaged salad products, which have a use-by date of between Oct. 28 and Nov. 1.
“The safety of our consumers is our number one priority. This voluntary recall is intended to address any product that may remain in consumers’ possession,” the company said in a statement, USA Today reported. “As always, please follow any use-by dates and dispose of any products that have exceeded these dates.”
Health officials are concerned that some of the products may still be in consumers’ refrigerators even though they have passed their use-by dates, according to the USDA. These products should be returned to the store of purchase or thrown away.
Those affected by an E. coli infection generally get sick 2 to 8 days after ingesting the germ. Those infected can develop diarrhea, vomiting and a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome, according to the CDC.