McCain Foods Responsible for the Recall of Numerous Products due to Contamination with Salmonella and Listeria

After a couple of weeks when every day new companies recalled their products due to vegetable included in their products that were potentially contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes, the FDA finally revealed the source of contamination.

FDA announces McCain as the Source

On October 19, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally alerted the public to the source of the recalled vegetable products contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenesthat caused numerous recalls of products. The FDA announced that several vegetable products from McCain Foods USA, Inc. had been possibly contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes and that their recall led to numerous recalls of products including salads and wraps that used the vegetables from McCain Foods as ingredients.

On October 14th, McCain Foods initiated a recall of their products out of an abundance of caution. Most of the recalled vegetables were used as ingredients in foods produced by downstream manufacturers and sold under different labels.

McCain Foods explained that they identified the potential contamination risk in its fire roasted vegetables, caramelized or sautéed frozen vegetable and fruit products produced at its Colton facility in California. The company made the decision to voluntarily recall all products produced at that facility.   McCain Foods, headquartered in Ontario, Canada, is a privately owned multinational company specializing in frozen foods, especially  potato products such as French fries and other vegetables.

The Ripple Effect

McCain Foods notified the companies that they supply of the recall, and as a result all the following recalls took place.

 Companies

Mary’s Harvest Fresh Foods, Inc recalled ready-to-eat wrap and salad products that contained corn from McCain. These items were shipped to retail locations in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

GH Foods CA, LLC  recalled ready-to-eat salad with chicken products that contained corn from McCain. These items were shipped to retail locations in California.

GHSE, LLC  recalled ready-to-eat salad with meat products that contain corn from McCain. These items were shipped to retail locations in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Prime Deli Corporation recalled ready-to-eat salad with bacon products that contained corn from McCain. These items were shipped to retail locations in Texas.

Taylor Farms Northwest LLC  recalled ready-to-eat (RTE) pork carnitas bowl products that contained tomatillos from McCain. These items were shipped to retail locations in Oregon and Washington.

GHSW, LLC recalled ready-to-eat salad with chicken products that contained corn from McCain. These items were shipped to retail locations in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.

Ruiz Food Products recalled ready-to-eat salad meat and poultry taquitos products that contained diced onion from McCain. These items were distributed nationwide.

Buddy’s Kitchen, Inc. recalled ready-to-eat pork and chicken products that contained vegetables from McCain. These items were shipped to institutional locations in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and New Jersey.

Caito Foods, LLC recalled ready-to-eat salad and bowl products made with chicken that contained corn from McCain. These items were shipped to retail locations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Missouri.

Envolve Food  recalled ready-to-eat chicken and beef products that contained vegetables from McCain. These items were shipped to distribution warehouses nationwide.

Hy-Vee, Inc. recalled six of its meat and potato products across its eight-state region due to caramelized mushrooms and fire-roasted tomatoes from McCain.

SK Food Group  recalled chicken wrap products that contained vegetables from McCain. These items were shipped directly to consumers through catalog sales in California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Bakkavor Foods USA, Inc. recalled ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that contained onion from McCain. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide.

Vendors selling the products

As a result of the recalls of the companies listed above, the following vendors recalled products from their shelves:

7-Eleven recalled two types of ready-to-eat salads, including Bistro Southwest Style Salad with Bacon, sold in its stores in Texas due to the Prime Deli recall.

Whole Food Market recalled its 365 brands of Chicken Fajita salad, BBQ Style Chopped Salad with Chicken, and some other varieties due to the GH food recall. The products were mainly sold in California.

Trader Joe’s have recalled ready-to-eat salads wraps manufactured byMary’s Harvest Fresh Foods, Inc.  The products were branded as Mary’s Harvest Southwest Chicken Wrap with Rib Meat, and Trader Jose’s Mexicali Inspired Salad with Chili Seasoned Chicken. They were shipped to locations in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Walmart recalled marketside Fiesta Salad with steak due to the GHSE recall of the corn included in its products. The products were sold in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Harris Teeter, the North Carolina-based supermarket chain with stores from Florida to Virginia, became the latest grocery seller to recall house brands due to the McCain Salmonella and Listeria.