Spinach Tainted with Salmonella

Shannon Weidemann

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A large spinach recall is underway for 34 tons of bagged spinach that may be contaminated with Salmonella. Salmonella can cause food poisoning if ingested. It is unknown how the spinach was contaminated. The distributor of the spinach is Metz Fresh of California.

The current recall involves a batch of spinach that was packed on Aug. 22 and distributed late last week to retail and food-service customers, such as restaurants or institutional kitchens, in the United States and Canada.

The salmonella was found during testing at a packing plant that was operating under contract with Metz Fresh, said Greg Larsen, a company spokesman.

In a statement, Metz Fresh said the salmonella was detected in a single sample of spinach at the processing plant. The company said it decided to recall spinach from three processing lines at the plant as a precaution, since all three lines were handling produce from the same field.

The company believes that 90 percent of the spinach never reached consumers. This is not the first time that spinach has been recalled. Last summer there was a large recall of spinach due to contamination by E. coli.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.