Possible Listeria Contamination Leads to Voluntary Recall of Some Sunflower Seed Products

The potentially-affected sunflower seeds were produced by SunOpta. The brand names of the recalled products include Nature’s Harvest, Southern Grove, Amport Foods, Fresh Finds, Gold Emblem, Naturally Select, Greenbrier International, Family Gourmet, Clover Valley, Hy-Vee, K&G, Smart Sense, American Importing Company, Delish, and Nice!. “The Company has completed its root cause analysis and is working with food safety experts to implement corrective and preventative measures”, the company said in a statement.

Retailers nationwide are voluntarily recalling thousands of products, including trail mix, sunflower seed packets and prepared salads, because of a possible listeria contamination.

“This follows the announcement by our supplier SunOpta of its expanded recall of sunflower kernels which have the potential to be contaminated with L. mono“, said Treehouse.

The food recall has also impacted consumers who may have purchased Dakota Style Foods’ sunflower products.

Earlier this week, PepsiCo joined the list of businesses affected by the listeria recall when its subsidiary The Quaker Oats Company voluntarily pulled “a small quantity” of Quaker Quinoa Granola Bars. All were supplied by SunOpta.

SunOpta late Wednesday extended its recall to Planters’ sunflower kernels in three-ounce bags with “best by” dates of March 13, 2017, to March 16, 2017.

The recalled products, were sold in the following states AZ, CA, ID, MT, ND, NM, OR, WY.

Recalled retail items were sold in packaged bags and deli tubs and are marked with Best By Dates located on the front or back of the packages.

The recall was issued for at least 24 states, including California, although no illnesses have been reported to be linked to the products.