Ready Pac Apples Pulled From Shelves for Listeria Risk
Ready Pac Foods Inc. is recalling apples shipped to 36 U.S. states for restaurants owned by McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and stores including Wegmans Food Markets Inc. because of potential contamination from the bacterium listeria.
Ready Pac’s Missa Bay unit voluntarily recalled 293,488 cases and 296,224 individual packs of fruit, vegetable and sandwich products containing the apples, according to a statement today from the closely held company. No illnesses have been reported, the Irwindale, California-based company said.
The apples are sold as slices at fast food restaurants including Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW) eateries as well as caramel and peanut butter dippers at Wawa Inc. convenience stores, Ready Pac said. The recall is being issued because listeria was found on equipment used by Missa Bay.
McDonald’s stopped serving the apple products from the Missa Bay facility and removed them from all restaurants and distribution centers in “an abundance of caution,” according to a company statement. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based company, the world’s largest restaurant chain, said it hasn’t received any reports of people getting sick from the products.
Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious or life-threatening illness. Symptoms may include fever, muscle aches, nausea or diarrhea.
Ready Pac said the products containing the apples were shipped to Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia. The products were also being recalled in Washington, D.C.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Edney in Washington at aedney@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net
McDonalds Happy Meal Changes
Keith Srakocic/AP Photo
A McDonald's Cheeseburger Happy Meal with the new apple slices option.
A McDonald's Cheeseburger Happy Meal with the new apple slices option. Photographer: Keith Srakocic/AP Photo
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