There’s a Walmart fruit recall underway due to possible contamination with listeria. Specifically, several types of presliced and cut fruit are being recalled at Walmart and RaceTrac stores in eight states.
On October 1, Country Fresh issued a precautionary recall on sliced watermelon as well as prearranged fruit trays and containers of mixed fruits sold at Walmart and RaceTrac stores in five states due to a potential listeria contamination, according to the company’s press release.
The company then expanded the recall on October 3 to include sliced or cut apples, grapes, mangoes, cantaloupes, and pineapples sold at Walmart and RaceTrac locations in eight states (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas). The stores immediately removed the recalled products from their shelves, but customers may have purchased the products before they were recalled.
To date there haven’t been any cases of illness associated with the Walmart fruit recall. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did detect the presence of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria on a piece of equipment near where the produce is packed during a recent inspection, according to an FDA press release.
Like many foodborne illnesses, a listeria infection comes with some unsavory symptoms. People who are otherwise healthy rarely develop serious complications from listeria, but they may have a fever, diarrhea, muscle aches, chills, and nausea, SELF previously reported. If the infection spreads to your nervous system, you may experience a stiff neck, headache, confusion, and dizziness, according to the Mayo Clinic.
These symptoms usually start one to four weeks after eating food contaminated with listeria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explain. But some people have reported experiencing symptoms as early as the same day they ate the contaminated food or as late as 70 days after.
Listeria infections pose the greatest risk to pregnant people, newborns, people over 65, and people with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC. It can be especially devastating for pregnant people because, even if the pregnant person doesn’t experience severe symptoms, listeria can affect the fetus. In some cases the infection can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, or life-threatening infection for the baby within a few days of being born.
Doctors can diagnose a listeria infection (also called listeriosis) by examining a bacterial culture taken from a body tissue or bodily fluid, such as your blood, spinal fluid, or placenta, the CDC says. Most often, a blood test is the best way to diagnose a listeria infection, the Mayo Clinic says. People who have more mild symptoms of listeriosis don’t usually need treatment and are generally advised to just wait out the infection. But doctors will likely prescribe antibiotics for pregnant people and those with a more serious case of the illness.
If you live in one of the affected states, check the FDA site for a list of affected watermelon products and non-watermelon product codes that are part of the recall. Take a look at your produce to see if you have any potentially contaminated fruit. The “best if used by” date on the watermelon is through October 4, and the other affected fruits have “best by” dates between October 3, 2020, and October 11, 2020.
If you happen to have any of the contaminated produce, Country Fresh recommends throwing it out immediately and definitely not eating it. And if you think you might have symptoms of listeriosis after consuming affected produce, talk with your doctor and consider reporting it to your local public health department so they can better track the issue.
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