A New Jersey food company has recalled more than 75,000 pounds of packaged salad after seven people were hospitalized with E. coli, the US Department of Agriculture announced Thursday.
Missa Bay, LLC, of Swedesboro, issued the recall of 75,233 pounds of the bagged salad products sold at Walmart, Target and Aldi — fearing the romaine lettuce may be contaminated with the bacteria after an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A total of 17 people, one a 3-year-old, have been infected with the E. coli strain in eight states, according to the CDC.
Seven people have been hospitalized and two developed a type of kidney failure. There have been no fatalities.
Two people in Maryland reported eating the chicken Caesar salad produced by Missa Bay before being hospitalized.
As part of an outbreak investigation, the Maryland Department of Health collected a package of Ready Pac Foods Bistro Chicken Caesar Salad from a sick person’s home and found it tested positive for E. coli.
A full list of the recalled products is available online and applies to more than 30 packaged salads with the same lot of romaine lettuce believed to be from a farm in California.
The salads produced from Oct. 14 to 16 have been shipped to 22 states — 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, the agriculture department said.
“Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase,” the USDA warned.
Symptoms of E. coli including nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and fever.
Calls to Missa Bay went unanswered Thursday.