If You Have This Dole Product at Home, Throw It Out Now, FDA Says

IT COULD MAKE SOMEONE SICK, ESPECIALLY THE ELDERLY, CHILDREN, AND PEOPLE WHO ARE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED.

When you head to the grocery store, you tend to pick up products from brands you know and trust, like Dole, the world's largest fruit and vegetable company. They produce more than 300 culinary staples, from bananas and pineapples to juices and pre-made salads. Unfortunately, if you picked up one particular vegetable made by the company recently, you could be putting your health at risk. On Sept. 10, Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. announced it is voluntarily recalling one of its products after a sample tested positive for E. coli. Read on to find out if something in your fridge could make you or your family sick.

Dole is voluntarily recalling a limited number of cases of its curly leaf parsley.
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On Sept. 10, Dole announced it's voluntarily recalling certain bunches of its Dole® Curly Leaf Parsley in a notice also posted by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

The product, which has harvest dates of August 18, 2021, and August 19, 2021, was distributed to retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. If you bought a bunch of Dole curly parsley recently, look for the price look-up (PLU) number on the twist-tie binding the herb. The affected batches have PLU number 4899 and a UPC code of 0 3383 80330 0.

"Consumers who have any product with these UPC/PLU Product Codes should not consume it, but rather discard it," the company says in the recall notice, pointing out that no other curly leaf parsley products are affected.

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A sample of the parsley tested positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. 
Kostiantyn Ablazov / Shutterstock

Dole found out that the parsley could be contaminated during a random, routine regulatory testing by the Michigan Department of Agriculture, when a sample came back positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), which can cause foodborne illness in anyone who consumes it. While most healthy people won't become seriously ill, the elderly, young children, and immunocompromised people are at risk of getting sick.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms of STEC infection vary depending on the case. Most people start feeling sick three to four days after consuming the contaminated food or drink, but symptom onset can occur anywhere from one day to 10 days after.

Common symptoms include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that's often bloody, and vomiting; some patients may also have a low-grade fever. Most people feel better after five to seven days, according to the CDC.

"Some infections are very mild, but others are severe or even life-threatening," they warn. "Contact your healthcare provider if you have diarrhea that lasts for more than three days or diarrhea that is accompanied by a fever higher than 102˚F, bloody diarrhea, or so much vomiting that you cannot keep liquids down and you pass very little urine."

Dole reports that no illnesses had been reported at the time of the recall.

The parsley was sold in five states.
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Dole said the company is cooperating with the FDA on making sure the products in question aren't consumed.

According to the notice, the affected curly leaf parsley was distributed in five states: Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Missouri.

Anyone with questions about the recall can contact the Dole Consumer Center at 1-800-356-3111, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT.

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This is not the first Dole recall in recent weeks.
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This is Dole's second recall in just a few months. In late June, the company announced that it was voluntarily recalling a limited number of cases of its Dole Fresh Blueberries due to potential contamination with Cyclospora, a parasite that can cause an intestinal infection.

In that recall, Dole also said no illnesses had been reported, but they similarly advised consumers "to check any product they have in their homes and discard any product matching the production description, UPC codes, and product lot codes listed."

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