Once again, E. coli O157:H7 has been found in Dole bagged lettuce. Dole is recalling bagged salad bearing the label “Dole Hearts Delight” sold in the U.S. and Canada with a “best if used by” date of September 19, 2007, and a production code of “A24924A” or “A24924B” stamped on the package. The “best if use by” code date can be located in the upper right hand corner of the front of the bag. The salad was sold in plastic bags of 227 grams in Canada and one-half pound in the U.S., with UPC code 071430-01038. The recall is occurring after a sample of the salad was found to contain E. coli O157:H7.
Eric Schwartz, President, Dole Fresh Vegetables, stated: “Our overriding concern is for consumer safety. We are working closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and several U.S. state health departments.”
If Dole’s “overriding concern is for consumer safety,” Dole should either stop selling bagged leafy greens or put a warning on the bags that eating bagged leafy greens is a high-risk activity for the very young, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems.
The common link between E. coli and Dole bagged leafy greens is that the greens are “ready-to-eat” and bagged. The additional processing provides additional opportunities for contamination with E. coli O157:H7, and inside a plastic bag is the perfect growing environment for E. coli bacteria.
The reality is that Dole makes far too much money on bagged salad to stop production. Federal health officials are not going to do anything.
Again, it is left to consumers to protect themselves from unsafe food. There is no way for a consumer to detect E. coli O157:H7 on lettuce and spinach. E. coli can’t be seen, smelled, or tasted, and contaminated lettuce and spinach does not look spoiled.If you have a young child, elderly person, or immunocompromised person in your family, buy leafy greens locally or in the least processed form possible, i.e, buy the head of lettuce instead of the lettuce in bags.
Pritzker | Ruohonen is one of the leading E. coli litigation law firms in the United States. The firm has represented victims of E. coli outbreaks linked to Dole lettuce. To contact the firm, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form.
