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Fresh cut produce in Texas linked to Listeria outbreak

State officials advise restaurants to discard items from processing firm

Texas restaurants and institutions are being advised by state officials to discard any products they may have from SanGar Produce & Processing of San Antonio after some of the firm’s chopped and bagged celery was linked to six of 10 Listeria monocytogenes illness cases that included five deaths.

SanGar did not reply to an e-mail and phone call seeking comment about the recall as of press time.

But officials of the company were quoted by CNN as saying that tests by the firm’s outside lab “directly contradicts” the state’s conclusions and that SanGar was “aggressively fighting the state’s erroneous findings.”

Officials of the Texas Department of State Health Services said they had ordered SanGar to stop processing at its plant and to recall all products shipped to restaurants and institutions since January from the facility specializing in fresh cut produce, including bagged salads, fruits and vegetables.

It said it did so after traces of Listeria were found in SanGar bagged celery during laboratory testing being done as part of an investigation of 10 Listeria cases reported over an eight-month period in the Texas counties of Bexar, Travis and Hidalgo.

DSHS officials in Austin, Texas, said all of the people who got sick had serious pre-existing underlying health issues.

Inspectors for the state agency discovered sanitation issues at the plant and said that the Listeria found in the chopped celery may have contaminated other food produced there, according to DSHS sources. Those inspectors said they found a condensation leak above a food product area, soil on a preparation table and hand-washing issues.

Distributors, restaurants and institutions believed to have been supplied by SanGar are being contacted by state personnel to ensure that those organizations are taking appropriate action to protect consumers, DSHS representatives said.

The public health agency advised SanGar product users to discard or return the goods, but advised against cooking any such foods as a way of trying to render them safe for consumption. It said it is continuing to investigate possible sources of contamination and where SanGar products may have been distributed.

Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].

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