Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, 7-Eleven brands caught in listeria/salmonella recall storm

UPDATED THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT: The retail list for Taylor Made Farms Pork Carnitas Bowl was released Thursday afternoon. The retail list for GH Foods and Mary’s Harvest Fresh Foods came out just after midnight, Eastern time.

A produce supplier’s listeria and salmonella problems could cause recall ripples over the next week. The ripples began Tuesday and Wednesday with six recalls, mostly of ready-to-eat salads.

This isn’t an outbreak, such as the current raw chicken salmonella outbreak announced Wednesday. These are preemptive recalls meant to avoid an outbreak. No illnesses have been reported yet. Anyone who still has these foods around should throw them out or return them for a full refund.

Tuesday night’s recall of two kinds of 7-Eleven salads sold only in Texas, looked parochial until the recall notice revealed the cause: “Prime Deli Corporation received notification that the corn used in the production of their Southwest Style Salad with Bacon was being recalled by their corn supplier due to Listeria monocytogenes and salmonella concerns.”

That means all that corn supplier’s customers now have listeria and salmonella concerns, as happened with whey powder in July and chocolate chip cookie dough in 2016.

Sure enough, Wednesday evening, GH Foods recalled ready-to-eat salads sold under a Whole Foods brand in California. Less than an hour later, Mary’s Harvest Fresh Foods recalled ready-to-eat chicken products sold in Idaho, Oregon and Washington under its own brand and Trader Jose, Trader Joe’s house brand for Mexican food.

On its own website, Trader Joe’s posted a recall for the Trader Jose’s salad and two of its house brand salads.

About two hours later, GH Foods’ Green Cove Springs, Florida-based sibling, GHSE, recalled 738 pounds of Marketside Fiesta Salad, sold in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. An hour after that, Taylor Farms Northwest recalled its Pork Carnitas Bowl because its suppliers tomatillos might be contaminated with salmonella and listeria.

(The supplier remains unnamed for now. Messages left with Prime Deli Corporation and GH Foods spokespersons haven’t been returned. Mary’s Harvest owner Ernie Spada III refused comment when reached by phone.)

So far, what should have been pulled from shelves are:

▪ Prime Deli’s 7-Eleven Bistro Southwest Style Salad with Bacon in 9.6-ounce and 11.2 ounce clamshells. The Best By dates on all were “Tuesday 1016.” They went to 7-Eleven stores in Texas.

Questions about Prime Deli’s recall can be directed to Luis Aguilar, Prime Deli Corporation Quality Assurance Manager, at 817-360-8483.

▪ GH Foods recalled 9.75-ounce clamshells of “Santa Fe Style Salad with Chicken” with Best If Sold By dates from 10/17/18 and 10/18/18; 10-ounce clamshells of 365 by Whole Foods Market BBQ Style Chopped Salad with Chicken and 8-ounce clamshells of 365 by Whole Foods Market Chicken Fajita Salad, each with Best if Sold By dates of 10/17/18 to 10/20/18; and 6-pound bagged BBQ Style Salad Kit with White Chicken, Use By dates from 10/17/18 to 10/22/18.

The retail list covers 14 Target locations, 23 Whole Foods stores and six 365 by Whole Foods Market sellers in Arizona, California and Oregon. Consumers with questions about GH Foods recall can call GH Foods Vice President of Communications Nelia Alamo, 916-638-8825.

▪ GHSE yanked 15.25-ounce clamshells with Marketside Fiesta Salad With Steak with Use By dates from 10/17/2018 to 10/20/2018.

Consumers with questions can contact Shelby Chih, the Supply Chain Quality Manager for Renaissance Food Group, at 916-638-8825. Renaissance is the parent company for GHSE and GH Foods.

▪ Mary’s Harvest recalled Mary’s Harvest Southwest Chicken Wrap w/Rib Meat with Use By dates of 10/15/18 through 10/23/18 and plastic 11-ounce clamshells of Trader Jose’s Mexicali Inspired Salad with Chili Seasoned Chicken. The Best By dates on those are from 10/15/2018 through 10/19/2018. They were shipped to retail stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, although Trader Joe’s said the Mexicali salad also went to Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

The retail list, released Thursday night, is highlighted by 24 Trader Joe’s stores in Wahsington and 12 in Oregon. Check the list for the independently owned and operated stores.

Customers with questions can phone Mary’s Harvest Fresh Foods General Manager Tim Kraus at 503-808-9444.

▪ Trader Joe’s recalled Field Fresh Chopped Salad with Grilled Chicken Breast and BBQ Flavored Chicken Salad with Best By dates from 10/15/2018 to 10/20/2018. These salads went to Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Questions for Trader Joe’s can be answered at 626-599-3817, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

▪ Taylor Farms Northwest recalled its 11-ounce clear plastic wrapped Pork Carnitas Salad with Sell By dates of 10/15/2018 and 10/19/2018. The USDA retail list of stores that might have gotten the product is comprised of all QFC stores in Washington; four QFC stores in Portland, Oregon; 18 Fred Meyer stores in Oregon and six in Washington.

Those with questions for Taylor Farms can call 855-455-0098.

This story was originally published October 17, 2018 at 9:11 PM.