Cilantro Food Poisoning Fears Lead Wal-Mart, Kroger, To Pull Products From Shelves

Both Wal-Mart and Kroger are pulling all cilantro from Puebla, Mexico off their shelves, after the FDA issued a ban due to farm conditions, which may increase the risk of food poisoning. 

The companies, two of the largest grocery chains in the U.S., told Bloomberg News they were taking the cilantro out of circulation for the safety of their customers. Kroger issued a cilantro recall affecting about 440 stores nationwide, and Wal-Mart stopped selling Puebla cilantro throughout its chain.

The FDA banned cilantro from Puebla, Mexico from being imported into the United States after an investigation linked cilantro from that region to annual outbreaks of cyclosporiasis.

Investigators who visited the growing fields in Mexico found highly unsanitary conditions, with fields lacking lavatory facilities for workers, resulting in human feces and toilet paper being present in the fields.

Kroger placed a short notice on its recall alerts page on Monday, which read:

CILANTRO BUNCH, 1 BUNCH EACH

Affects: Kroger Stores located in Texas and Louisiana;

Reason: This product may be contaminated with Cyclospora cayetanensis and, if eaten, could result in severe illness to those who may consume this product.

Recalled on: July-27-2015

The next day the recall was expanded to include stores in the Greater Memphis area, Tennessee; Arkansas; Mississippi; Western Kentucky; North Carolina; Virginia; Eastern West Virginia; Eastern Kentucky; and Southeastern Ohio.

Cyclospora cayetanesis is a human protozoan parasite, which causes intestinal illness with prolonged and severe diarrhea and many flu-like symptoms. The parasite usually requires a period of time outside of its host before it becomes infectious and is known to be a seasonal parasite that thrives in tropical and subtropical regions.

An individual can become infected with C. cayetanensis by ingesting the infective form of the parasite that have had enough time outside of its host. People usually ingest these parasites through drinking water or food that has been contaminated with feces containing the parasite.

The FDA determined that epidemiological evidence collected from outbreaks, as well as the CDC’s traceback evaluations, indicated that Puebla, Mexico cilantro was the vehicle for most of the cycloporriasis infections in 2013 and 2014, and the primary source for a large cluster of outbreaks in Texas in 2012. So far this year, 205 cases have been reported in Texas alone.

The FDA believes that it is extremely unlikely that the outbreaks are due to isolated contamination events because of their reoccurring nature in both timing and the evidence pinpointing the provider to be located in Puebla, Mexico from CDC traceback investigations.

The parasite originates from sources of fecal contamination that have shown to be present on the farming and packaging areas in Puebla according to the FDA investigation.

Neither retailer said they expected a cilantro shortage, as there were other suppliers available. No other retailers or grocery chains said they anticipated needing to make a cilantro recall.