Fresh Express recalls salad products

SALINAS, Calif. - Fresh Express is voluntarily recalling some of its salad products distributed to New York and other states because of a possible health risk from Listeria monocytogenes.

The company is recalling 2,825 cases of its Veggie Lovers Salad after one package tested positive for the bacterium in a sample test conducted by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

No illnesses have been reported, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The recalled salad mix has a product code of I208 and use-by date of Aug. 10.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

The salad mix was distributed to New York and 12 other states with the potential for redistribution by customers to additional states.

According to the FDA and Fresh Express, the product was distributed to New York, New Jersey, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

The mix could then have been sent to Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and the District of Columbia.

The recall announced Tuesday comes after Fresh Express pulled some of its salads last month because of possible E. coli contamination.

Fresh Express also recalled several types of its ready-to-eat salads in May after salmonella was found in a package tested by the FDA.

Fresh Express is a subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Chiquita Brands International Inc.

- AP