A Long Island manufacturer has pulled every ready-to-eat salad and every cream cheese product it makes from New York City delis after federal and company testing found Listeria monocytogenes inside its plant. Made Fresh Salads Inc. of Bay Shore announced the action in a recall notice posted by the FDA on September 6, covering products distributed in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and elsewhere in New York City. No illnesses had been reported when the notice went up.
The practical problem for shoppers is that most of this food never reached them in its original container. The recalled items shipped in 30-pound and 5-pound white plastic tubs and half-size aluminum pans to retail stores and distributors, and stores then scooped the contents into their own deli containers. The FDA notice says packaging and coding will vary depending on where a customer bought the product, which means a container in a refrigerator right now may carry a store label and no recall information at all.
