Tomatoes Recalled Across Eleven States Over Salmonella Risk

Prime Highlights:

Ray & Mascari Inc. conducts a voluntary recall of 4-count vine-ripe tomatoes because they are contaminated with salmonella.
Recalled items were distributed in 11 US states through Gordon Food Service Stores.

Key Facts:

Recalled tomatoes with lot codes RM250424 15250B and RM250427 15250B.
No reported illness; consumers should not eat and dispose off the product.

Key Background:

Ray & Mascari Inc. of Indianopolis launched a voluntary recall of its vine-ripe 4-count tomatoes due to the reason that they could be contaminated with the risk of salmonella. The company distributed the tomatoes to stores at Gordon Food Service Stores in 11 states across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

The recall was due to a letter from Hanshaw & Capling Farms, Immokalee, Florida, concerning the potential contamination of salmonella in the plant. Recalled tomatoes were packed by Hanshaw & Capling Farms and repacked by Ray & Mascari Inc. The contaminated batches are shipping with lot numbers RM250424 15250B and RM250427 15250B.

Salmonella is an illness which can have the potential of resulting in severely serious gastrointestinal disease, particularly among susceptible individuals such as young children, elderly people, and the immunocompromised. The usual presentation is fever, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, and cramping of the abdomen. The infection can progress to severe disease so that the illness becomes systemic and results in conditions such as infection of an artery or endocarditis.

Though no one has been made ill, possible consumers who could have bought the spoiled packs of tomatoes are advised against ingesting the product. Alternatively, they can dispose of the product or return it with the retail store from whom they bought the product. Consumers have also been given avenues of contact by Ray & Mascari Inc. so that they may learn more or make a complaint. The firm is operating hand-in-hand with food safety regulators to safeguard members of the public.