Taylor Farms recalls salsa and guacamole from Walmart, Kroger over salmonella risk

ATLANTA — Taylor Farms said on Sunday it was recalling prepared food items containing jalapeños from retailers, including Walmart, Kroger and Whole Foods ​in some states, over concerns about potential salmonella contamination.

The California-based supplier said it had voluntarily recalled the products, including salsas and guacamole, after being notified that Coast Citrus Distributors was recalling the fresh ‌peppers.

Taylor Farms products were also recalled from Target, Trader Joe's and Scarborough, Maine-based supermarket chain Hannaford across about 20 states.

Taylor Farms said in a ⁠statement it was no longer sourcing from a farmer ​in Sinaloa, Mexico, that was identified as the potential ⁠source of the salmonella outbreak.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA said earlier this week ‌they were investigating the salmonella outbreak, ‌which had sickened 345 people across 27 states and led to 36 hospitalizations.

The U.S. investigation ⁠into the salmonella outbreak identified restaurants including Chipotle Mexican Grill and ⁠Qdoba, a Mexican-style restaurant chain, as having received jalapeños imported by Coast Citrus Distributors.

Both restaurants stopped using them, while Coast Citrus recalled the remaining product and notified customers.

Salmonella infections can cause diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps and can be particularly severe in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Taylor Farms said it was unaware of any reported illnesses linked to the voluntarily recalled items.

Walmart said it had ‌removed the impacted products from its stores and implemented a sales block at ​its registers as well as online. Kroger, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Hannaford-parent Ahold Delhaize did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Taylor was already facing heightened scrutiny over an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, which causes severe diarrhea.

The U.S. FDA said it had linked the cyclosporiasis to Taylor Farms products from central Mexico, although the company said the regulator had not confirmed positive sample tests for cyclospora on its lettuce as of August 5.

Taylor Farms said it had voluntarily suspended all iceberg lettuce sourcing and production from ​central Mexico and commissioned a safety review.

The current cyclosporiasis outbreak is among the largest caused by food-borne illness in recent U.S. history, ‌and health authorities ‌continue to look ⁠for sources of the illness beyond iceberg lettuce.

According to NielsenIQ data, U.S. fresh iceberg lettuce unit sales in the four weeks ended July 25 fell 15.3% from a year earlier, following an 11.1% decline in the four weeks ended June 27.

The cyclosporiasis outbreak, which led to recalls at Taco Bell, broadly hit restaurant traffic as consumers turned wary of ‌dining out and chains such ​as Chipotle and Sweetgreen have flagged a hit to sales.

Contributing: Juveria Tabassum, ⁠Angela M Christy, Isla Binnie and Anuja Bharat Mistry

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