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FDA Finds Salmonella At Setton Pistachio Facilities

By PritzkerLaw

State and federal food safety inspectors found Salmonella organisms in "critical areas'' of productions facilities at Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced.

The inspectors also found the potential of cross-contamination of raw and roasted products, the FDA said in a press release.

Setton responded by expanding its recall alert to consumers. Initially, the California grower, aggregator and roaster of pistachios had announced pistachio recalls by lots. Now the company is recalling all roasted, shelled pistachios and all roasted in-shell pistachios from its 2008 crop year -- a harvest of more than 1 million pounds.

Setton's raw in-shell pistachios were not included in the latest recall, which the company said was "due to potential contamination with the Salmonella organism.''

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly and other people with weakened immune systems. For example, in the unrelated peanut butter Salmonella outbreak, nine people have died and more than 700 have been sickened since September.

National food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is representing victims of Salmonella around the country, including the families of three women who died in the peanut-related outbreak.. The firm is experienced and highly regarded for obtaining compensation for victims of food poisoning. In addition, the firm is devoted to educating the public about food safety issues and advocating for badly needed food safety legislation and increased funding for the federal, state and local agencies charged with protecting our food and enforcing food safety laws. To contact a Salmonella lawyer at PritzkerOlsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or complete a free online case consultation form.

Setton's 2008 crop was distributed around the country, mostly in commercial quantities of up to 1 ton in size. Customers re-bagged the nuts or used them to make other food products. The FDA is instructing Setton's customers to issue recalls on any affected products. So far, nearly 200 products have been recalled and many more announcements will result from the expanded recall, the FDA said. Entries are being tracked in a searchable FDA database.

The complete, expanded recall by Setton also applies to retail-sized packages ranging from five-pound "craft bags" of "Setton Farms" roasted and salted pistachios to 16-ounce bags of "Trader  Joe" Chili Lemon pistachios.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on April 07, 2009 (boomark / email).