Vertical farm leafy greens grower Kalera voluntarily recalled 633 cases of lettuce due to concerns of potential salmonella contamination on Nov. 3, 2022.
The recalled lettuce was limited to a small number of retail and foodservice customers in Florida, according to a company announcement, and Kalera has notified affected customers.
“Kalera has intensive product monitoring protocols and multiple layers of testing which allowed the company to move quickly and withdraw product before the recall officially began. Eight subsequent tests on the same lots were negative for the presence of salmonella,” Aric Nissen, chief marketing officer at Kalera, told The Packer.
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The salmonella was detected when some of Kalera’s whole-head lettuce SKUs were confirmed positive for salmonella in food safety tests. Once detected, Kalera reported this issue to the FDA, according to the company. The recall includes krunch, butter and romaine varieties, and affected lot codes include 001293 and 001294. All recalled products were sold under the Kalera brand, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Only the varieties and lot numbers mentioned — produced at Kalera’s Orlando, Fla. farm and sold in Florida — are being recalled. No other Kalera products are affected by the recall.
“Controlled environmental agriculture is still the safest and cleanest way to grow. The traceability of the company’s supply chain is a further advantage because we can go back to the exact growing area or even seed — limiting the scope to where the problem is instead of an entire farm or crop cycle,” Nissen said.
Understanding salmonella contamination
Salmonella is one of the most common foodborne infections in the U.S., resulting in an estimated 1.2 million human cases, according to the CDC. Salmonella is spread by the fecal-oral route and is transmitted through food, water or direct animal contact.
“Anyone producing food must operate in a continuous improvement culture,” Tom Stenzel, executive director of the CEA Alliance told The Packer. “That’s why many CEA companies have come together in the CEA Alliance to share best practices, learn from one another, and constantly raise the bar on ourselves. We welcome others to join us in this mission.”
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Foods can become contaminated with salmonella pathogens through environmental or cross-contamination. Salmonella can incubate in the body for approximately 12 hours to 72 hours, and common symptoms are diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, nausea and vomiting. Because the symptom profile is similar to many other diseases, testing is necessary to confirm salmonella.
Responding to contamination
To learn more about food safety and current recalls, visit the FDA’s foodsafety.gov.
According to Kalera, if consumers have recalled products in their refrigerators, they should be discarded and not consumed. To obtain a refund or for more information on the voluntary recall, consumers may contact the company at (407) 574-8204 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.
