Dive Brief:
- Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. has settled two civil lawsuits that were associated with a listeria outbreak that was tied to the company’s Springfield, OH plant last year, according to the Journal News. The settlement amounts were not disclosed.
- Although settlements were reached, Dole officials denied responsibility for the incidents and said its products were not defective when they left the company’s facility
- Company officials shut down the Ohio plant in January 2016 after an investigation linked the site to an outbreak of listeria, but it has since reopened.
Dive Insight:
According to the CDC, nearly 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths due to listeriosis occur annually in the U.S., but often the source of the problem is not completely found.
Not only did Dole discover evidence of listeria, leading to a recall last year. There was also a recall of spinach processed by Coastal Green Vegetable Company from potential listeria contamination in 2015. After this contamination report, Dole shut down its Ohio plant for four months for an FDA investigation. According to internal tests, Dole had found signs of listeria in this plant as early as 2014.
Packaged salads are surging in popularity as consumers demand both fresher and more convenient foods. Sales for value-added produce and RTE foods continue to grow as well, and packaged salads align with both segments. Yet, consumers worry that they could be more susceptible to contamination.
Listeria is spread through contaminated water and soil, which is how it gets on leafy vegetables. A thorough wash can prevent infection from the bacteria.
New produce standards through the Food Safety Modernization Act may help prevent this kind of contamination in the future. FSMA's produce rule, which goes into effect later this year, has standards for water, soil and fertilizer that can be used to grow plants for consumption. And through preemptive measures taken at processing plants as a part of FSMA's preventive controls rule, which went into effect last year, there should be a better handle on keeping areas of the plant clean to prevent more contamination.
Despite more care being taken at the plant, bagged salads may inherently have contamination risks. Researchers at the University of Leicester found that juices released from damaged salad green leaves can increase the risk of salmonella contamination in packaged salads.
And there is also the possibility of other contaminants in packaged salads, like a dead bat found in a Fresh Express bag last month.