Pre-Packaged Dole Salads Recalled After Outbreak of E. Coli

Amy Rothschild

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Dole Fresh Vegetables, a division of Dole Food Company, Inc. has issued a recall of certain pre-packaged salads bearing the label "Dole Hearts Delight," sold in both Canada and the United States. The recall was issued after a randomly tested bag tested positive for E. coli. The voluntary recall, issued Monday, September 17, 2007, affects all packages of Hearts Delight sold in the United States and Canada with a "best if used by" date of September 19, 2007, and a production code of "A24924A" or "A24924B," the company said. The Food and Drug Administration is urging anyone with these products, to throw them away. This product was sold in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada and in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and neighboring states in the U.S.

To date, it does not appear that anyone has gotten sick as a result of the product. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea; some people can have seizures or strokes and some may need blood transfusions and kidney dialysis, while others may live with permanent kidney damage. Most healthy adults recover within a week, but children under 5 and the elderly are at risk for complications that can lead to kidney damage or death.

This most recent recall falls on the heels of a 2005 recall involving Dole pre-packaged salads that were recalled for E. coli. This was after after at least eleven people became infected with E. coli after eating the salads. Two people had to be hospitalized as a result of the illness. The particular type of E. coli connected to the salads is known as O157:H7.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.