Complain about a product or service

More Pistachio Products Recalled

Scores of items pulled from shelves due to possible Salmonella

By Mark Huffman and Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 13, 2009

• FDA Warns Consumers Against California Pistachio Brands • California Produce Company Recalls Pistachios on Salmonella Fears • Floodgates Open in Pistachio Product Recall • More Pistachio Products Recalled • Feds Search Peanut Product Distributor in Salmonella Investigation • Pistachio Recall Continues To Expand • More Pistachio Nut Products Recalled • FDA Investigating Salmonella-Tainted Pistachios • Frito-Lay, Kraft Recall More Foods Containing Pistachios • Kraft Recalls Trail Mix Containing Pistachio Nuts • Georgia Company Says Products May Be Tainted with Salmonella --- • Salmonella: What It Is • More about Food Safety ...

Following the pattern of the massive peanut recall earlier this year, the pistachio recall of 2009 continues to grow. In the last few days, scores of products containing pistachios, possibly tainted by salmonella, have been recalled by their manufacturers.

Some of the latest pistachio products recalled include the following:

Flanigan Farms

Flanigan Farms has announced the voluntary recall of Flanigan Farms branded pistachios due to potential contamination with salmonella as a follow up to the expanded voluntary recall of pistachio products announced by Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. on April 6, 2009. The affected recalled products were distributed to retail stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. Flanigan Farms said it has received no reports of illness related to the affected products.

Ashdon Farms

Ashdon Farms of Wisconsin's Girl Scouts Pistachios. The products included in this action are the 7.5 oz Girl Scouts Pistachios packed in pop top cans. The recalled products have a code date beginning with 8264A6, 8266B6, 8297A6, 8297B6 or 8318A6 on the bottom of the can. The products were distributed during fundraisers by Girl Scout Councils in several states across the country. For more information, contact Ashdon Farms at 800-274-3666;

FreshDirect Salted

FreshDirect Salted and Unsalted Pistachios sold on or after November 11, 2008. The recalled products were distributed in plastic bags and sold directly to consumers in the New York City metropolitan area. The recall covers FreshDirect SALTED PISTACHIOS, NET WT. 10 OZ. (283g), Product Code FD0300901680 and FreshDirect UNSALTED PISTACHIOS, NET WT. 10 OZ. (283g), Product Code FD0300901681. The company has not received any reports of illnesses linked to these products. FreshDirect said it has contacted all consumers who purchased these recalled products. For more information, contact the company at service@freshdirect.com or (212) 796-8002;

Flavor House

Several brands of pistachios from Flavor House Products, Inc. and Nutcracker Brands, Inc., which are part of the Bremner Food Group. The recall includes: Shurfine, 12 oz. Pistachios — distributed ONLY by Topco Associates Use by dates between: OCT 31 09 to APR 10 10 UPC 11161 16134; Stop & Shop, 6 oz. Dry Roasted; Pistachios — distributed by Foodhold USA Sell by dates between: OCT 11 09 to APR 10 11 UPC 688267 08172; Giant, 6 oz. Dry Roasted Pistachios — distributed by Foodhold USA Sell by dates between: NOV 05 09 to APR 10 11 UPC 688267 08172, and First Choice, 32 oz. Natural Pistachios — distributed by Inter-American Products at Ralph Stores in California. Sell by dates are FEB 04 10 to APR 10 10 UPC 11110 83162. The company has not received any reports of illnesses linked to these products. Consumers can return the items for a full refund. For more information, contact Bremner Food at (866) 770-1157;

Rocky Mountain Foods

Rocky Mountain Foods has recalled tubs of its Whole Foods Markets Roasted & Salted In-shell Pistachios, Roasted Chili Lemon Pistachios, and Raw Pistachio Kernels. The recalled products were packaged under the Whole Foods Markets Brand and sold exclusively in Whole Foods Markets retail stores in several states. The products included in this action are listed on the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Web site.

Eastern Lamejun Bakers

Eastern Lamejun Bakers is conducting a voluntary recall of its 0.75 — 1.00 pound packages of its "Pistachio Nuts California." This voluntary recall is being conducted as a precautionary measure due to the fact that Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella has expanded their recall to include all roasted, shelled and in-shell Pistachio Nuts from the 2008 crop year because they may be contaminated with salmonella.

The recalled "Pistachio Nuts California" were sold to retail consumers at the Eastern Lamejun Bakers retail store located at 145 Belmont St, Belmont, MA 02478. The product was packaged in a plastic bag with a twist tie and is labeled as "California Pistachio Nuts, 136" and weighs anywhere between 0.75 and 1.00 pounds.

Albanese Confectionery Group, Inc.

Albanese Confectionery Group, Inc. of Merrillville, Indiana manufactures nut products which contain pistachios supplied by Setton Pistachio. It also distributes pistachio products purchased from Setton Pistachio.

Albanese said it is recalling products sold and nationwide, through email orders, phone orders and faxed orders.

The products under recall are labeled as follows:

• Shelled Pistachios R/S, net wt. 25 lbs., Albanese Confectionary Group, Merrillville, IN (no UPC code). [note: R/S means roasted and salted]

• Shelled Pistachios R/NS, net wt. 25 lbs., Albanese Confectionary Group, Merrillville, IN (no UPC code). [note: R/NS means roasted, no salt]

• Deluxe Mix Nuts salt, net wt. 30 lbs., Albanese Confectionary Group, Merrillville, IN (no UPC code).

• Deluxe Mix Nuts, R&NS, net wt. 30 lbs., Albanese Confectionary Group, Merrillville, IN (no UPC code).

Any Albanese shipping boxes containing bulk bags of shelled raw pistachios; large red pistachios, roasted and salted and/or naturally roasted and salted pistachios.

The lot codes under recall are lot 8246 through 9098.

Salmonella is an organism, which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

The recalls came after routine testing by Kraft Food detected salmonella in its Back to Nature Trail Mix.

Kraft notified the FDA on March 24 that the trail mix tested positive for salmonella — and recalled the product the following day.

The company, however, has confirmed it found salmonella in another batch of trail mix more than a year ago, but couldn't identify the source of the contamination until just a few weeks ago.

Kraft said it took thousands of tests to identify the pistachios supplied by Setton Pistachios as the source of the contamination.

To help consumers find "safe" pistachio products, the Western Pistachio Association and the CAL-PURE co-op of California pistachio growers have created a Web site consumers can search for brands that do not contain any Setton Pistachio products.

"The vast majority of pistachio products and foods containing pistachio products do not contain pistachios from Setton," the Web site states.

The FDA also has a Web site consumers can search for products now under recall in the wake of this pistachio-related salmonella scare.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.