If You Have Any of These Fruits in Your Fridge, Toss Them Now, FDA Warns

EATING THEM COULD CAUSE A DEADLY REACTION.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are typically some of the healthiest products you can buy at the grocery store. However, dozens of produce items distributed in the U.S. could pose a serious health danger to anyone who unknowingly tossed them in their shopping carts in recent days. Read on to learn which fruits are being recalled as a safety measure, what hazard they pose, and what to do if you have them at home.

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Fresh Fruit Up is recalling multiple fresh-cut fruit and vegetable products and ready-to-eat-dips.
Shutterstock/baibaz

Fruit Fresh Up, Inc. is voluntarily recalling all fresh-cut fruit and vegetable products and ready-to-eat dips processed at its Depew, New York, production facility, according to a recall notice announced March 20 and published on the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) website.

The list of recalled items includes more than 30 different products, including watermelon, honeydew, pineapple, and cantaloupe in various types of packaging.

The fruits and vegetables could be contaminated with dangerous bacteria.
Shutterstock

The voluntary recall was issued after testing results found that surfaces where products are packaged into containers were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

In otherwise healthy adults, listeria poisoning, also called listeriosis, is known to cause short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. But for elderly people, young children, and others with compromised immune systems, listeria exposure can be much more serious, and even fatal. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

When Listeria bacteria gets into food, the consequences can be tragic. A recent Listeria outbreak tied to Dole packaged salads led to the deaths of at least two people and sickened 17 others across 13 states. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1,600 people are stricken with listeriosis each year, and 260 of them die.

Fortunately, no illnesses have yet been reported as a result of exposure to the products affected by this recall.

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Here's how to check your produce for the recalled products.
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Products subject to the voluntary recall of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are packaged in clear plastic containers with a tamper-evident seal and identified with a "Best if Used By" date between March 5 and March 23, 2022.

Ready-to-eat dips came in in seven-ounce clear plastic clamshell containers with a "Best if Used By" date of March 15 to March 31, 2022.

Recalled items from the facility were distributed in New York and surrounding states.

Here's what to do if you have any of the recalled products at home right now.
iStock

Retailers have been advised to check their store shelves and warehouse inventories to confirm they don't have any of the recalled products available for customers to purchase at this time, but if you already bought any of these products and still have them in your refrigerator, throw them out immediately.

Fruit Fresh Up is coordinating closely with regulatory officials on this recall, and the company has opened up phone lines to consumers and retailers with questions. For more information, you can call 716-684-3400 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

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