Fresh Express Salad Recall: Salmonella Food Poisoning Risk

The risk of salmonella food poisoning from hearts of romain lettuce have led to a recall for Fresh Express salad bags with a “Use-By” date of October 11, which were sold in 20 different states. 

The Fresh Express Salad bag recall was posted by the FDA on October 11, after a random sample tested positive for Salmonella contamination. However, there have been no reports of salmonella poisoning linked to the recalled lettuce.

Fresh Express is recalling 18 oz. bags of Hearts of Romaine Salad with a Use-by-Date of October 11 and Product Code of S270A24. The product code can be found on the upper right corner of the package.

Fresh Express distributed the recalled bags of salad to 20 different states, mostly in West-Northwest and Midwest regions of the U.S, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Known retailers are being contacted by the manufacturing to confirm that the salad was removed from store shelves due to the potential severity of food poisoning from Salmonella, which can cause symptoms that consist of fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, which typically resolve in a few days or weeks for healthy individuals. However, if the bacteria enters the blood stream, it can cause more severe side effects such as infected aneurysms, endocarditis, arthritis, and sometimes fatal infections in young children or elderly people.

Consumers who have purchased this product are to throw it out and contact Fresh Express Consumer Response Center for a full refund by contacting (800) 242-5472.