In another food scare sure to rattle consumers still reeling from the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts, federal food officials now are warning people not to eat any food containing pistachios, which could carry contamination from the same bacteria.
Central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation's second-largest pistachio processor, is voluntarily recalling more than 2 million pounds of its roasted nuts shipped since last fall, the Food and Drug Administration said.
"Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold on to those products," said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety. "The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers."
Two people called the FDA complaining of gastrointestinal illness that could be associated with the nuts, but the link hasn't been confirmed, Acheson said. Still, the plant decided to shut down late last week, officials said.
The recalled nuts represent a small fraction of the 55 million pounds of pistachios that the company's plant processed last year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios.
The FDA learned about the problem March 24, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that it had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios through routine product testing. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day.
The FDA contacted Setton Pistachio and California health officials shortly afterward, in what Acheson called a "proactive move."
By Friday, grocery operator Kroger Co. recalled one of its lines of bagged pistachios because of possible salmonella contamination, saying the California plant also supplied its nuts. Those nuts were sold in 31 states.
Fabia D'Arienzo, a spokeswoman for Tulare County-based Setton Pistachio, said the company was recalling only certain bulk roasted in-shell and roasted shelled pistachios that were shipped on or after Sept. 1.
Because Setton Pistachio shipped tote bags of nuts weighing up to 2,000 pounds to 36 wholesalers across the country, it will take weeks to figure out how many products could be affected, said Jeff Farrar, chief of the Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health.
"It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes," Farrar said. "The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility."
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