Pistachios recalled due to possible salmonella contamination

In our last post of the week concentrating on the topic of recalls, we discuss the very dangerous threat of food contamination. When we think about food recalls we often think about foods that are easily contaminated such as raw meats or products that need to be refrigerated. The scary thing is that just about any food that is distributed nationally or even locally carries a risk for some sort of contamination. While some contaminations may be low-risk, others can have deadly effects. For this reason, the Food and Drug Administration does not mess around, and as soon as they learn about a possible contamination, they do their best to alert the public in an urgent fashion.

Recently, the FDA announced a voluntary recall of raw pistachios from a specific company. The recall was issued by International Foodsource, LLC on four separate products that all contain pistachios. Thankfully no illnesses have been reported due to the contamination as of the second week of February but as we all know, sometimes it takes quite a bit of time for an illness to be linked to a specific food contamination.

The product apparently poses a possible salmonella risk. Laboratory analysis found the presence of salmonella in a five-ounce bag of one of the four products being recalled. While healthy adults may be able to get through salmonella poisoning with just stomach pains and diarrhea, this type of poisoning poses a great threat to children, the elderly and anyone who is frail or has a weak immune system. That covers a very large percentage of our population.

The hope is that this recall will reach consumers in time before any contaminated foods are consumed, but as is always the case with contaminated products, there is a chance that someone will be negatively affected.