U.S. distributor, retailers recall Daniella mangoes

08/28/2012 10:35:29 AM
Coral Beach

For additional updated information please see: "United Supermarkets joins mango recall"

These Daniella brand mangoes are under recall in Canada and the U.S. in relation to salmonella outbreaks. (UPDATED COVERAGE, 2:45 p.m.) Federal officials joined California and Washington state investigators as they work to find the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 79 and may be linked to recalled mangoes.

Food and Drug Administration officials said they working on the "fast-moving outbreak," but California's health investigators are still leading the investigation.

"Once FDA became involved we began coordinating with the state of California, which is leading the investigation, to get up to speed on the progress of their investigation," said an FDA announcement. "Once we can examine the information the state has collected first hand, we can make decisions on our next steps."

A Burlingame, Calif., distributor is voluntarily recalling the Mexican mangoes. Canadian officials have linked the same brand of mangoes to 22 salmonella illnesses, 17 in British Columbia and five Alberta.

Anita Gore, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Public Health said the state has 73 cases of salmonella with the same strain that sickened Canadians. She said more than two-thirds of the sick Californians reported eating mangoes before becoming ill.

“We are working with the Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on the investigation,” Gore said Aug. 28.

Donn Moyer, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Health said six illnesses were documented in the state at the end of July as being from the same strain of salmonella that was detected in the Daniella mangoes.

"But we don't have a direct link yet," Moyer said. "We are still in the interview phase of the investigation."

Moyer said four of the six people in Washington were admitted to hospitals, but they are all home and have recovered.

Officials with the Centers for Disease control and Prevention did not immediately respond to calls.

Splendid Products general manager Larry Nienkerk said the company began notifying customers Aug. 26, asking them to pull all Daniella mangoes.

“We want to let everyone know our top priority is public safety,” Nienkerk said. “We have notified all of our customers ... and we are working with all the government agencies that are involved. We didn’t want to wait.”

The mangoes have stickers with the Price Look-Up code of 4959.

Comments (23) Leave a comment 

The red mangoes that I bought from Costco are marked Bunny but with the same Price
Look -Up code of 4959. Would that be the same one recalled as the brand Daniella? I
don't have the box anymore to see the red stickers on both sides of the box. Please
advice ASAP!

I bought mangos from Costco and also was left a voicemail from them stating there was a
recall. But the mangos that I purchased say "fresca" with code #4584. I don't have the
box anymore but the mangos I have left do have a sticker showing what I stated above.
We have eaten 6. Are we okay?

I also bought the freska bunny brand at costco code 4959 they also send me a massage. Its the same code as the daniellas
brand. I dont care about the refund i just want my kids and i to be healthy. My mother in law has thw daniella brand at hpme
and my daughter ate some today. Im gonna be taking her to the doctor tomorrow morning.

If you bought them from Costco, you do not need to have your receipt. They can look it up from your membership number. I really appreciate that Costco sent us a phone message. We have Mangos from Costco and also from Ralphs Market, a chain market. The funny thing is that the Costco mangos have the 4959 number, but are not labeled Daniella, but the Ralphs mangos have a different number, but are labeled Daniella. Doesn't really matter, because I am taking all of them back. My husband loves mangos, too bad, this may go the way of the cantaloupe. What a shame.

So is this recall for an mango labeled 4959 regardless of the name on the label?

The PLU code is only for ring up at register. What you need to look for is the brand "Daniella", the other brands are not associated with this outbreak.

PLU codes only identify the variety of mango, not the brand. During recalls, look for the brand, not just the PLU number.

Javier (and others),

The PLU (Price Look-Up code) tells the grocer what fruit/vegetable you purchased, what variety it is, what size it is, etc. It has nothing to do with the brand or who grew/packed/shipped it.

There are dozens of PLUs for apples. In the case of mangoes, some varieties (keitt/kent and tommy atkins/haden) share PLUs. 4959 is for "red, large" mangoes. Other PLUs are covered by this recall, which I assume means the company packed several varieties/sizes during the time of the recall.

Chris Koger
News Editor
The Packer

I have the "Freska Bunny" mangos with the PLU #4969. Bought them 8/28/12 I haven't received a messege from costco. We have consumed two of eight. Should I return the rest or is this batch not tainted?

purchase mangoes from Sprous code 4959 Freska (Mexico) brand name. Another was tagged Latina Select (Brazil) guess that one is ok. concerned about the Freska..and oh boy it looks so good.. please let me know asap. thanks

"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency first posted a recall of Mexican mangoes on
Aug. 24, updating that to include only Daniella brand mangoes distributed by North
American Produce Sales, Vancouver, British Columbia."

There are two pages to this article. Reading them both will answer a lot of your
questions...

No receipt required, they can look up your purchase---That's how you were contacted

On the sticker is besides the PLU number and the brand name a GS1 barcode. It looks like it's a useless investment anyway. It does the same as the PLU number, at least the PLU number is human readable. The Brand name is doesn't tell where the mango is grown, they can come from different countries and different growers. Somebody bought a bunch of mangos and put a sticker with a fancy name on it. The contaminated stuff should be off the market in hours but how would the supermarket know when stickers fell off at the shelves.

Please, can you send me more information, but who is the company? I need more information, the sticker is not too much information, is better if you say me location, state working, name the company, I´m very confortable with more infromation please. Thanks for you cooperation. Dave.

Splendid Products has set up a special Web page at http://www.splendidmangos.com that includes photos of the mangoes and stickers they have recalled. Please keep in mind, however, that other distributors in Canada have recalled Daniella brand mangoes, which will have different stickers.
--Coral Beach, staff writer

Costco's vice president for food safety has confirmed for The Packer that some of the chain's stores do carry Freska and Bunny brand mangoes, but neither of those brands are related to the Daniella brand mangoes that Costco pulled from its stores in support of a recall by distributor Splendid Products.
Freska Produce International has a statement at http://www.freskaproduce.com/news/ stating that their mangoes, which are only sold under the Freska or Bunny brands are not associated with the mangoes that some distributors and retailers are recalling.
--Coral Beach, staff writer

Thanks for the info and the link.

There was at least one USA company which bought Daniella Mangos, took the PLU off, and placed their own, they have been contacted and are part of the recall as well.

Can someone explain the possible ways that Salmonella could be acquired on a fruit?

I am ignorant as to all the possible and most likely ways that this could happen.

Could this have only happened at the farm?

Could a transport carrier be involved?

Could a food handler be involved?

I have heard that this is through contact in the skin of the fruit, and that when a clean knife touches the contaminated skin to slice it it carries the salmonella from the skin to the inside of the fruit.

Also if you use a contaminated knife that say was previously used to cut chicken and was not properly sanitized, you could contaminate the fruit inside.

If somebody knows how this illness develops, and wants to share please do so as this is not the first one nor the last case, I would like to know what professionals in the field know.

Are there tests to identify Salmonella? E. Coli?

How quick are these tests to show results?
does salmonella thrive in all fruits & vegetables?

How long does it take after it is originated and before it becomes active and dangerous to humans?

Is E. Coli worst than Salmonella?

What are the differences?

Can they be prevented completely?

Can the origin of either be 100% identified?

Can it be washed off at home?

soap? chlorine? Iodine? hot water? how many minutes & temperature?


I ate a whole case of Japanese export Daniella brand mangos by my self 3 weeks ago; I eat mangos by biting a chunk of the skin and the eat the pulp away. also by slicing one half and making a grid, just great taste, they were Kent I believe.

I also bought managoes with PLU Latina #4959 and wondering if I should eat them or return them to Levoitti's. Please let me know as soon as possible.

Joanne,

The PLU number describes only the type of mango, not the brand or distributor or country of origin. See my comment above, posted at 9:37 a.m. Aug. 29.

Regards,
Chris Koger
News Editor

Javier,

Too many questions here to respond in this format, but I can comment on a few.
Where did you get the information about switched PLUs? Even if that's the case, it's unlikely that it had any effect on this recall, because PLUs describe the type of mango, not where it was grown or distributed.
As far as where the contamination occurred, it's true that it could have been several places in the supply chain. We should know more when the results from tests at the farm are available.
As for the questions about pathogens, the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites would help you more than The Packer can.
Regards,

Chris Koger
News Editor

Chris

We are prone to get very interested and participative when issues arise, specially food safety or political issues, if the issue serves as a provocation for participation, I am all for taking advantage of the momentum originated and educating as much as we can at the same source.


In regards to the array of questions, you are right.

These should be directed to the appropriate experts in said themes, however we are seeing these topics, actions & consequences reported in this publication and I ask them in this comment section because they were brought to our attention here.

There may be an expert amongst the readers an author or editor who knows more about the topic that can shed more light than just the mere 'observation'.


I as a consumer have my doubts when ignorant about something, in this case I am ignorant to all of those questions posted above;

Thanks for the advise of looking at the CFDC.

Fernando