Green organic kiwifruit is being recalled in more than a dozen states due to potentially deadly listeria poisoning.
David Oppenheimer and Company is voluntarily recalling some of its clamshell packages of its kiwi after routine testing by the Kentucky Department of Health found listeria monocytogenes in some of the fruit.
According to a notice posted on the United States Federal Drug Administration website Tuesday, the company said it traced the issues to two grower lots in New Zealand.
What is listeria?
According to the FDA, listeria is an organism which can cause serious or fatal infections in children, the elderly, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy people can also suffer short-term symptoms including high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and the infection can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
The recalled kiwi exported to North America was repackaged locally for sale in one-pound clear plastic clamshells bearing the Zespri brand and UPC code 8 18849 02009 3, containing fruit stickers with the GTIN bar code 9400 9552.
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What states are affected by the recall?
The kiwi subject to the voluntary recall was shipped between June 14, 2023 and July 7, 2023, and sold in clamshells at retail locations in Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Zespri kiwi shipped after Aug. 7, 2023 in one-pound plastic clamshells with a white sticker that includes the work order number and packed on date is not affected by this recall.
The recall was the result of a routine sampling by the Kentucky Department for Public Health on July 7, 2023.
Since being notified on Aug. 3, the company stopped distributing the fruit from the related grower lots and it continues to investigation in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it said.
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No illnesses reported so far
So far no illness have been reported in connection to the recall.
People who bought the kiwi are urged to not consume it and to throw it out.
Consumers with question can call 1-866-698-2580
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.
