More than 75,000 pounds of salad recalled over E. coli fears amid multi-state outbreak
More than 75,000 pounds of salad products were recalled due to a possible E. coli contamination in the lettuce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced.
Missa Bay, LLC, a New Jersey company, issued the recall for around 75,233 pounds of salad products containing meat or poultry, the USDA said in a statement on Thursday.
The federal agency had previously announced a recall for 97,272 pounds, but reduced the poundage.
However, the USDA still classified the health risk as "high."
A full list of recalled products is available here.
The recall comes amid a multi-state outbreak of E. coli infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A total of 17 people from 8 states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, Washington and Wisconsin -- have reported being infected with E. coli, the CDC said in a statement. Of those infected, 7 people were hospitalized.
There have been no fatalities, according to the CDC.
The Maryland Department of Health identified E. coli in an unopened package of Ready Pac Foods Bistro Chicken Caesar Salad that was collected from a sick person’s home in Maryland.
All products from the same lot of lettuce are included in the Missa Bay recall.
The recalled products were made from Oct. 14, through Oct. 16, and shipped throughout the country 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.
Calls to Missa Bay were not immediately returned.
Investigators are determining if the sample of E. coli found in the Ready Pac salads are closely related to the strain, identified as E. coli 0157:H7, found in people infected in the outbreak, according to the CDC.
Most people infected with that strain of E. coli can experience diarrhea, which is often bloody, and vomiting. Many of those infected recover within a week, but, in rare cases, a person can develop a severe infection.
