RECENT FOOD RECALLS IN CALIFORNIA

California is a great place to live. It's not just the beauty and climate. It's also the food. California is the number one food and agricultural producer in the United States. More than half the nation's fruit, nuts, and vegetables come from here. In addition, it's the nation's number one dairy state. There are also a large number of food importers, distributors and processors based here. That can mean that our food travels less miles and arrives at our table in fresher condition than in many other parts of the U.S.

Unfortunately, all this does not mean that California has completely safe food. In fact, we come in for more than our fair share of recalls. Let's take those I have listed for the past few days. I am also noting how you can contact the company for more information (see also the alerts column and click on FDA or USDA links for additional details).

• Jennie-O Turkey Store frozen turkey burgers with possible Salmonella contamination were distributed in California as well as in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin. For more information, see the special website the company has created for consumers at www.jennieo.com/recall(Congratulations on taking this unusual step!).

• Seafood Salads from Frankly Fresh with possible contamination by Listeria monocytogenes were distributed through retail supermarkets in California (as well as in Nevada). For more information contact the company at we-care@franklyfresh.com or its hot line at 1-800-826-3322 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. PT.

• Angelina brand smoked round scad (imported from the Philippines) which could be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum was distributed in California through retail stores, supermarkets and wholesale distributors (as well as in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Washington, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and the Virgin Islands). For more information - Contact the company at 323-257-1888 Monday to Friday noon to 9 p.m. EDT.

• Sprouts sold by Louie Foods International were apparently distributed only in California in the central valley and along the CA coast. For more information call Louie Foods, International at (559) 264-2745 PT.

By the way, three of the four recalls below (all except the turkey burgers) originated in California as well. All the bacteria involved in these incidents - Clostridium, Listeria and Salmonella - can cause serious and even fatal illnesses. You can not tell by looking at these foods that they may be contaminated.

Be careful my California friends.

TSF

FOOTNOTE: I notice that a lot of blog readers are pulling up this post during a ground turkey recall in August, which also affects California. The present post only covered a few days in April. The ground turkey recall is dealt with in three posts in August 3-4.