Recalled Cucumbers: May Be Source Of Salmonella Outbreak

Sometimes, food gets contaminated, even when precautions are taken to prevent it. This is especially true when food is being made or sorted in large batches. In fact, the CDC estimates that around 38.4 million cases of foodborne illness in the U.S. each year, mostly due to unspecified causes.

Most recently, cucumbers have been recalled in more than a dozen states; they may possibly be the source of an ongoing salmonella outbreak. According to federal regulators, these cucumbers may have sickened at least 141 people.

The Florida-based Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. issued the recall on May 31 for whole cucumbers shipped from May 17 through May 21. The company didn’t say how many cucumbers were included in the recall. But it did say the products were shipped in bulk cartons to retail distribution centers, wholesalers, and food service distributors.

Some of the states to receive the distributions include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

According to the recall, the cucumbers are dark green, approximately 1.5 - 2.0 inches in diameter, and 5-9 inches long.

"The recall was initiated after the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture informed the company that a product sample tested positive for the bacteria. The FDA is conducting whole genome sequencing to determine if this sample is related to an ongoing salmonella outbreak investigation," the agency said in a public notice.

The FDA opened an investigation into an outbreak of Salmonella Africana on May 22. The outbreak has sickened at least 141 people, though the agency has not yet reported where the infected people live. A source of infection has not yet been determined but is under active investigation.

The FDA said the recalled cucumbers are unlikely to still be in the marketplace. Anyone with the recalled product should throw it away or return it to the place of purchase for a refund.

Eating food contaminated with salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses.

Symptoms of salmonellosis include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 6 hours to 6 days after eating the contaminated product. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days.

Most people recover without treatment. In some cases, however, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Older adults, infants, and persons with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop severe illnesses and sometimes fatal infections.

Find more on the recalled cucumbers here.

A new Consumer Reports study has ranked the riskiest foods. They analyzed data from the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Agriculture between 2017 and 2022. Their researchers focused on "widely consumed foods" that had recalls over a specific duration of time.

According to Consumers Reports, the CDC estimates that 48 million people each year fall ill from salmonella, listeria, E. coli, or other bacteria or viruses in food. They said most recover on their own after a few days. But about 130,000 people are hospitalized and 3,000 die from foodborne illnesses yearly.

Some of the foods that are ranked at the top of the list include bagged salads, poultry products, and deli meats. The top five are leafy greens, deli cheese and meat, ground beef, onions, and poultry. Bagged salads and other leafy greens ranked number one on the list. They found 50 different recalls linked to them since 2017. Also, it has the most caused deaths. Last on the list at number ten is flour. Unlike leafy greens, flour has had zero total deaths.

"We aren’t saying people need to avoid these foods entirely," says Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at CR, who led the analysis. "After all, these foods are all usually safe, and many of them are in fact important parts of a healthy diet." Ronholm continued to say in Consumers Report that the list underscores the "importance of following best food safety practices with all of your foods, including knowing how to track, and respond, to food recalls when they happen." Read the entire list, and learn how you can reduce your risk at Consumer Reports.