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On Friday, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) warned people not to eat certain bagged salads due to possible contaminationwith Listeria monocytogenes. The bagged salads were manufactured byRiver Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC, and was packaged and sold under thefollowing brand names: River Ranch Farm Stand Hy-Vee Marketside Shurfresh The Farmer's Market Cross Valley Fresh n Easy Promark Sysco After routine sampling detected Listeria in 2 packages of shreddediceberg lettuce purchased from retail locations in California andColorado, River Ranch Fresh Foods initiated a voluntary recall ofthe bagged salads. A complete list of recalled products that aresold nationwide can be found here . The public is being asked to discard or return any recalledlettuce to the point of purchase for a refund. A Listeria infection can lead to high fever, headache and diarrhea. Whatmakes Listeria particularly nasty is that it's considered an"invasive infection," which means the bacteria spreads beyond thegastrointestinal tract. This makes Listeria very dangerous forpregnant women. Infections during pregnancy can lead tomiscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery or life-threateninginfection of the newborn. So far there have been no confirmed cases of illness from thelettuce, but leafy greens are often in the news as the source ofoutbreaks: E. coli and romaine lettuce in fall 2011 Salmonella and iceberg lettuce in summer 2009 This also isn't the first recall by River Ranch Fresh Foods. InOctober 2011, it recalled 2,154 cases of bagged lettuce for possible Listeria monocytogenes. This contamination was alsofound during routine testing. I applaud the company for its robusttesting program and identifying the contamination before afoodborne illness outbreak emerges, but clearly it has a problemcontrolling Listeria. Much like beef and chicken, leafy greens become contaminated duringthe manufacturing process. What makes them sometimes more dangerousis that they are consumed raw. We can at least cook out thecontamination in chicken and beef but leafy greens are often servedwithout any cooking or a kill step. This makes washing veryimportant. The Debate about Washing Bagged Lettuce There is a big debate going on about washing bagged lettuce . Is it necessary to wash lettuce that has already been"triple-washed," as it states on the packaging? Consumer reports did a study on this very topic. They found that even though the lettuce hadbeen washed, it still contained bacteria. Many "experts" can'tagree for many different reasons. The "don't re-wash camp" thinksthe average consumer will contaminate the lettuce more by trying towash it, while the "do wash camp" understands that there is apossibility for contamination at every step of the process. Surethe manufacturer washed the lettuce "3 times" before it was shippedout, but what happened after that? I've looked inside many shippingtrucks and produce warehouses. They aren't the most sanitary placeson earth, and they certainly aren't inspected as often as theyshould be. Produce can easily be contaminated just by being set ona dirty floor in the many warehouses, truck beds or even the veryrestaurant it will be served in. It's great that leafy green manufacturers are taking necessarysteps to prevent contamination of their product, and I commendRiver Ranch Fresh Foods for catching its contaminated productbefore it made someone sick, but can we really rely on them to keeptheir product safe? This latest recall proves that we shouldn't.I'm sure River Ranch washes its product thoroughly, but for thesecond time in less than a year, its lettuce was contaminated withListeria when tested at the retail outlet. Where exactly did itbecome contaminated? Who knows. Respro's recommendation: Wash any bagged lettuce. Even if youcontaminate it, at least it's your bacteria. You're probably immuneanyway! The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Beauty Spa Equipment Manufacturer , Diode Laser For Hair Removal Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Q Switched Nd Yag Laser today!
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