Whole Foods Recalls Prepackaged Chicken Salad, Pasta Salad Over Possible Listeria Contamination

Image courtesy of Glyn Lowe Photoworks

If your lunch today consists of that premade sandwich, wrap or pasta salad you grabbed from Whole Foods Market last week, you might want to come up with a backup plan: the health food chain recalled several of its deli products over a possible listeria contamination. 

Whole Foods announced over the weekend that it would recall approximately 234 pounds of curry chicken salad products, sandwiches and deli pasta salad that may contain Listeria monocytogenes, according to a notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The salads were produced on Oct. 16 and sold prepackaged, in salad bars, in store’s chef cases and in sandwiches and wraps prepared at stores in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. The products were sold between Oct. 18 and Oct. 22 and have a sale by date of Oct. 23.

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The possible contamination was discovered when the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service was notified of sample testing results performed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

So far there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of the salad.

Consumers who have purchased this product from Whole Foods should discard it and bring their receipt to the store for a full refund, the company says.

Consumption of food adulterated by L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns.

Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.

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