Taylor Farms is dealing with another major food recall, and consumers who recently purchased salsa, dips, sandwiches or other prepared foods may want to take a very careful look at what is sitting in their refrigerators.
More than a dozen Taylor Farms products sold by major retailers across the United States have been recalled because they contain jalapeño peppers that may be contaminated with salmonella. The affected products were distributed across 26 states and sold through retailers including Kroger, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Whole Foods.
That is a pretty wide footprint for a problem involving one seemingly innocent ingredient.
The latest recall follows other recent food-safety concerns involving Taylor Farms products and comes as federal investigators examine the source of the potentially contaminated peppers.
According to reports, investigators believe Mexico-based supplier Coast Citrus Distributors may be responsible for supplying the jalapeños involved in the recall.
Taylor Fresh Foods, the parent company of Taylor Farms, responded by issuing a sweeping recall covering multiple prepared products containing the peppers.
The company said it “is no longer sourcing products from this farmer.”
Some of the recalled foods carry “Best If Used By” dates through August 16, meaning consumers should not assume the issue involves only products that have already disappeared from store shelves or household refrigerators.
Customers who have recalled products are being urged to discard them immediately. Taylor Fresh Foods has also said consumers can obtain refunds from the locations where they purchased the affected foods.
The good news, at least so far, is that the company said Sunday it was not aware of any illnesses connected specifically to these newly recalled products.
Still, salmonella is hardly something consumers want hiding inside their afternoon salsa.
The recall is particularly noteworthy because of the number of retailers and states involved. Prepared foods have become enormously popular precisely because consumers can grab them from a refrigerated section, take them home and eat them with little or no additional preparation. When potentially contaminated ingredients make their way into those products, however, the convenience can allow the problem to spread across numerous brands, stores and locations.
Taylor Farms has already faced scrutiny connected to previous food-safety issues, including iceberg lettuce linked to a major cyclospora outbreak. Now the company finds itself once again telling customers to check their refrigerators.
For consumers, the immediate priority is simple: identify whether any recently purchased Taylor Farms products are included in the recall, pay attention to the “Best If Used By” dates and throw away affected items rather than taking chances.
Refunds are nice. Salmonella is considerably less enjoyable.
The broader situation also illustrates how interconnected America’s food supply has become. One supplier can provide a single ingredient that ends up inside numerous finished products, which are then shipped to multiple national retailers across dozens of states. By the time a contamination concern is discovered, the ingredient may have traveled thousands of miles and landed in refrigerators across the country.
Taylor Farms says it has stopped sourcing from the farmer involved, and no illnesses had been linked to this particular group of recalled products as of Sunday.
For shoppers, though, another large recall is another reminder that checking labels and recall notices is worth the extra minute, especially when the product in question may still be sitting on the refrigerator shelf.
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