Kiwifruit recalled in Virginia, 13 other states amid Listeria concerns
Virginia is one of 14 states where kiwifruit is being recalled due to contamination fears, according to the United States Food & Drug Administration.
The FDA said the David Oppenheimer and Company I LLC is voluntarily recalling all one-pound clamshells of organic green kiwifruit from the market. The recalled kiwifruit is grown in New Zealand, exported to North America and repacked locally for sale bearing the Zespri brand and UPC code 8 18849 02009 3, and contains fruit stickers with the GTIN bar code 9400 9552, according to the FDA.
The fruit could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, according to the FDA. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women, the agency said.
Consumers who still have any of these products are urged not to consume the fruit and to discard it immediately.
The organic green kiwifruit subject to the voluntary recall was shipped between June 14 and July 7, and sold in clamshells at retail locations in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. Zespri organic green kiwifruit sold in other states is not subject to this recall, the FDA said.
The recall was the result of a routine sampling by the Kentucky Department for Public Health on July 7, the FDA said.
Since being notified on Aug. 3, David Oppenheimer and Company I LLC has worked with Zespri to trace the product through the supply chain to two grower lots, and immediately ceased the distribution of the organic green kiwifruit, a press release said.
No illnesses have been reported, and no other products are part of this voluntary recall.
Consumers with questions can contact the David Oppenheimer and Company I LLC at (866) 698-2580 or send email to contact@oppy.com.
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Kiwifruit recalled in Virginia, 13 other states
