This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Multistate Listeria outbreak linked to Dole packaged salads
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
A multistate Listeria outbreak responsible for several hospitalizations, including one death, was linked to packaged salads produced at a Dole processing facility in Springfield, Ohio, according to the CDC.
Public health investigators identified 12 people aged 3 to 83 years, including one pregnant woman, infected with the outbreak strain. Illnesses were reported as early as July 5, 2015, from Indiana (n = 1), Massachusetts (n = 1), Michigan (n = 4), New Jersey (n = 1), New York (n = 4) and Pennsylvania (n = 1). All five patients who were interviewed reported consuming a packaged salad, and two patients who specified the brand said it was a Dole bagged salad.
During a routine product sampling, officials from the Ohio Department of Agriculture isolated Listeria from a Dole brand Field Greens packaged salad produced at the Springfield facility. Whole-genome sequencing showed the Listeria isolate was highly related genetically to isolates collected from ill patients.
On Jan. 21, the facility ceased operations and announced it is withdrawing packaged salads on the market while CDC and FDA officials continue to investigate the outbreak. The products were sold under various names, including Dole, Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar and President’s Choice Organics. Potentially contaminated products can be identified by the letter “A” at the beginning of the manufacturing code on the package, the CDC said. No evidence suggested that any other Dole products or packaged salads produced at other Dole plants in the U.S. are linked to Listeria.