On August 26, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in conjunction with Vita Food Products of Chicago, Illinois, issued a voluntary recall of at least 7,260 – 4-ounce jars of Vita Classic Premium Sliced Smoked Atlantic Nova Salmon which may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, "an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems."
Healthy individuals who consume the contaminated smoked salmon may only suffer short-term symptoms, such as nausea, severe headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea. However, Listeria monocytogenes is serious and not a "bug" to be taken casually: Listeria monocytogenes can cause miscarriages and stillbirths in women who are pregnant. Although, to-date, no confirmed illnesses or complaints have been reported by customers, the Vita Food Products Company is closely monitoring the situation.
The 7,260 packages of Vita Classic Premium Sliced Smoked Atlantic Nova Salmon were sold at stores throughout the country, including "Publix stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Safeway stores in California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and District of Columbia, Meijer stores in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, Vons stores in California, Genuardi’s stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Winn Dixie stores in Florida, and the Edgewater Produce store in Chicago, IL on or after July 25 of this year." 828 Additional individual retail packages of the product were also possibly sold or offered for sale by various grocery stores in the Buffalo, NY and Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan areas and Northeast Ohio.
This recall concerns packages of Vita Classic Premium Sliced Smoked Atlantic Nova Salmon bearing the SELL BY Date and Code: DEC 15 2011 01961B centered in the window on the front of each retail vacuum package. Consumers should seal the product in a plastic bag and return it to the store where it was purchased for a refund.
The Vita Food Products Company of Chicago, Illinois, has requested that anyone who has purchased the product with this SELL BY Date and Code, call 1-800-989-8482 from 8am to 5pm (Central Time Zone) Monday through Friday. The company also asks that anyone who has consumed the product and is experiencing any unusual or severe symptoms, go to their local emergency room immediately or contact their physician for immediate advice.
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