Check Your Fridge: Bagged Kale Is Being Recalled Over Listeria Contamination
Bagged kale sold at stores like Kroger and Winn-Dixie is being recalled over concerns of Listeria contamination.
The products, distributed in 11 states under the brand names Baker Farms, SEG Grocers, and Kroger, have a best-by date of September 18, 2021.
Customers who bought affected products are urged to return them to the place of purchase or throw them away immediately.
Time to check your fridge: A national distributor is recalling bagged kale over concerns of listeria contamination, per a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alert—and affected products were sold in some of the most popular grocery stores in the country.
Baker Farms has announced a recall of some one-pound bags of kale sold under the brand names Baker Farms, Kroger, and SEG Grocers in 11 states. The recalled kale has a best-by date of September 18, 2021 and was sold in clear plastic bags. All bags include a production code of 107020-21832. Each brand displays a unique UPC code:
Baker Farms Kale: 8 13098 02001 6
Kroger Kale: 0 11110 18170 1
SEG Grocers Kale: 0 38259 11482 7
Customers who bought the recalled kale are urged to return the products to the original place of purchase or throw them away immediately, according to the FDA notice.
The affected kale was distributed to grocery stores—including Kroger and Winn-Dixie—between August 30 and September 1, primarily in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, and Virginia. (A previous version of the recall mistakenly included Louisiana and left out Kansas and Ohio.)
Though no cases of illness have been linked to the recall yet, a customer notified the company that the product tested positive for listeriosis. Listeria—in this case, Listeria monocytogenes—is an organism that can cause “serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems,” per the FDA’s recall notice.
Listeria can cause symptoms similar to other food-borne pathogens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but this kind of listeriosis is “rarely diagnosed.” Invasive listeriosis, when the bacteria spreads beyond the gut, can cause headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions, fever, and muscle aches, the CDC explains. Pregnant women with the condition usually only experience flu-like symptoms, but listeria can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, and other life-threatening complications.
Symptoms of listeriosis usually present within one to four weeks of initial exposure, per the CDC; however, they can appear anywhere from the same day to 70 days after that exposure. The infection is treated with antibiotics. An estimated 1,600 people contract listeriosis each year, and about 260 die, the CDC says.
If you have any questions about the recall, you can also contact Baker Farms directly at 229-769-3113.
So before you make your next meal, make sure to check where your kale came from—you might just avoid a bacterial infection.
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