Salmonella Food Poisoning Fears Lead to Pistachio Recall in Three States

Pistachios processed by California Delights, Inc. and distributed in Oregon, Texas and Washington have been recalled due to fears of salmonella food poisoning. The pistachios were sold under the Aunt Patty’s, Special Commodities and AustiNuts labels. 

Late last week the FDA announced that both AustiNuts Wholesale, Inc. and GloryBee Foods, Inc. have issued a pistachio recall. Both companies received their pistachios from California Delights, Inc., which detected salmonella contamination in one lot of pistachios.

AustiNuts received two shipments of the contaminated pistachios in July and repackaged them and sold them in Texas as the following products:

• Pistachio Kernels – Raw or Salted, with lot numbers ending with “SE” on packing codes P1860 through P2080
• Deluxe Nut Mix, Salted, with lot numbers P187013201AW through P207013201AW
• Gourmet Nut Mix, Salted, with lot numbers P195014401AW through P201014401AW

GloryBee repackaged the pistachios under the Aunt Patty’s and Special Commodities labels. The whole raw pistachios were sold in Western and Central Oregon and western Washington for sale in retail stores and bakeries. The recalled products include:

• Aunt Patty’s Whole Raw Pistachios, sold in 5-pound bags with a lot number of MG0017400, item number 16046, P/D 07/06/10, and UPC 0 30042 70040 8
• Special Commodities Inc.’s Whole Raw Pistachio Kernels sold in 25-pound boxes under lot number 32043, which is stamped in red on the side of the boxes

There have been no food poisoning illnesses reported in connection to the contaminated pistachios.

The latest pistachio recall comes about a year and a half after a massive nationwide recall of pistachios distributed by Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. that affected nearly 80 products sold under 21 brand names, including Frito-Lay, Fisher, Planters and Kraft. That company allegedly kept selling pistachios for six months after it discovered the potential for contamination.

Salmonella, also known as salmonellosis, is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the United States, producing symptoms like high fever, persistent diarrhea, dehydration, vomiting, severe abdominal cramps and pain. The first symptoms usually begin to surface between 12 hours and 3 days after consuming the salmonella infected food.

For most healthy adults, salmonella symptoms pass within a few days to a week. However, in some cases severe illness can persist for longer and lead to more serious health problems. Those who are most susceptible to serious injury include the elderly, infants and those with chronic conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes or weak immune systems.