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The FDA announced that Columbia River Natural Pet Foods of Vancouver recalled 933 packages of Cow Pie fresh frozen meats for dogs and cats, produced in August 2017, due to potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Pets with Listeria monocytogenes infections sometimes display symptoms such as mild to severe diarrhea, anorexia, fever, nervous, muscular and respiratory signs, abortion, depression, shock, and death, animals that recover may become carriers. Cow Pie is a fresh frozen meats product intended to feed raw to dogs and cats. Cow Pie was distributed in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington through retail stores and direct delivery. The product comes frozen in 2 lbs. purple and white plastic bags. No illnesses have been reported to date. The potential for contamination was noted after routine testing by the Washington State Department of Agriculture revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in one package. @ https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm627721.htm

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced on December 4, 2018, the recall of Eat Smart brand Salad Shake Ups – Sweet Kale from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The recall was triggered due to CFIA test results that were positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The recalled product has been distributed nationally, however, there have been no reported illnesses associated with consuming it. Eat Smart brand is owned by Apio Inc., headquartered in Guadalupe, Canada. Canadian officials did not report how many pounds or packages of the kale salad mixes are subject to the recall. The agency did not provide names or locations of the retailers. According to its website, Apio Inc. is one of the largest shippers of fresh-cut vegetables in the U.S. and Canada. @ http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2018-12-04/eng/1543977186780/1543977188278

Some romaine lettuce is coming back to stores, with new labeling that includes where the product was grown. However, the trucking industry according to Transport Topics (https://www.ttnews.com/articles/romaine-recall-causes-disruption-trucking-industry) still has the task to decide how to track romaine lettuce in the future, in case of another E. coli outbreak. During the November recall, truckloads of romaine lettuce were in transit as the recall came down. The truckers were told to destroy the product but found it difficult to find places to dump the truckloads full of lettuce. While health officials could guess that the lettuce came from central California. Nevertheless, retailers and trucking companies took everything romaine in the chain and on the shelves and tossed it in the trash. Eventually, tons of lettuce were sent to landfills and dumps. Because officials at FDA and CDC could not pinpoint the source of the contamination, tons of safe food from Arizona and elsewhere were thrown out with the bad. Romaine lettuce is difficult to find currently and many restaurants are not serving it.