Sunrise Growers Inc., a subsidiary of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-headquartered SunOpta Inc., has issued a voluntary recall of certain frozen organic dark sweet pitted cherry products due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
This recall target includes 90 cases of Organic Great Value brand dark sweet pitted cherry products distributed from Sunrise Growers’ facility in Edwardsville, Kansas, USA, on August 10, 2017. The issue was discovered during routine testing by Sunrise Growers.
The products subject to recall are packaged in 32-ounce (2 pounds, or 907 grams) printed plastic zip top bags marked with a “Best By” date of 08/10/19. The UPC code is 078742126166 and the lot code is FED722211 or FED722212.
These recalled products were distributed to a customer distribution center in Louisiana and may have been redistributed to stores in Louisiana and Mississippi. The affected retail customer has been notified of this recall and instructed to remove any recalled product from retail store shelves and inventories.
No illnesses related to the consumption of the cherries have been reported. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
Consumers are urged not to consume the products but instead to take them back to the store where they were purchased for a refund, or simply discard them. More information is available by sending an e-mail to contactus@sunopta.com or calling 1-800-854-1988.
