The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has added more salad kits to a recall that started last week due to possible listeria contamination.According to the CFIA website listeria is a bacteria that can act as a parasite in its host and can cause listeriosis. Listeria can live in a food plant for several years, it said. Some of the latest products date back to cheese made by Rizo-López Foods, Inc. in 2014.The latest products to be recalled are southwest salad kits made by Dole and President’s Choice, as well as Dole’s Avocado Ranch Chop Kit, distributed nationally.The kits were distributed across Canada, while the dip is available in Ontario, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Quebec.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigated the outbreak in 2017 and 2021 and identified some cheeses as the source of the outbreak but there wasn’t enough information to target a specific brand, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).However, it was narrowed down to Rizo-López Foods in January 2024 after new illnesses were reported in December 2023, and the US issued its recall on Monday. The products have best-before dates up to and including February 19.Canada has not reported any illnesses, but the US has had 26 cases of illness due to the cheese and other dairy products such as yogurt and sour cream, including 23 hospitalizations and two deaths.Symptoms start within two weeks of eating the contaminated food and include fever, muscle aches, nausea, tiredness, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the FDA. More serious symptoms can include convulsions, confusion and loss of balance.Food contaminated with Listeria may not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick, according to the CFIA.
