Dole Salads Recalled Over Listeria Outbreak, So Pregnant Ladies Need to Check Their Refrigerators

iStock_000063486381_SmallFor pregnant women in the U.S., an abiding fear of listeria is drummed into you from practically the moment of conception. The bacteria can get onto food and cause Listeriosis, a serious and potentially life-threatening foodborne illness that is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and newborns. Fear of Listeriosis is behind a lot of the foods pregnant women are commonly told to avoid, like certain cheeses, lunch meats, cold cuts, and more. (I don’t live in the U.S., but my doctor was adamant that I could not eat salad unless I prepared it myself and washed the ingredients very, very well.) Now packaged Dole salads have been the subject of a massive recall after a Listeria outbreak was traced back to them.

According to the CDC, pregnant women are 10 times more likely to get Listeriosis than the general population, and Listeriosis is a lot more dangerous for pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems. Listeriosis can cause miscarriage or stillbirth, preterm labor, and serious illness or death in newborns.

The Daily Meal reports that 12 people in six different states were sickened, and one died, of Listeriosis since July. The source of the outbreak was reportedly only just traced back to a production facility in Ohio, where packaged salads were being produced. According to Yahoo News, five of the victims say they ate packaged salads before falling ill, and at least two of those specified that they’d eaten Dole brand salads. Dole has recalled all packaged salads produced at the Ohio facility implicated in the outbreak.

Customers with bagged salads by Dole, Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar, or President’s Choice Organics should check the manufacturing code on the packages. If the code starts with “A,” throw it away.

(Photo:  gbh007/iStockPhoto/Getty Images)

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