Aldi, Wegmans, Kroger and Target stores are all recalling bagged and loose peaches from Wawona Packing Company out of an abundance of caution that those products may be contaminated Salmonella.
The peaches are being recalled after an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looking into a salmonella outbreak. The California fruit packing company is suspected to be the source of the illness of over 60 people in nine states.
So far three people in Virginia have become ill. Overall, there have been 14 hospitalizations and zero deaths reported as part of the outbreak, according to the CDC.
“We’re conducting this voluntary recall in cooperation with the FDA out of consideration for the wellbeing and safety of our customers and consumers,” said George Nikolich, Vice President Technical Operations. “We continue to be committed to serving consumers with high quality fruit.”
The bagged Wawona peaches were distributed in 35 states including Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to the company announcement.
Aldi announced last Wednesday it was removing affected Wawona peaches from its stores in 20 states, including Virginia, according to the company announcement.
Wegmans joined Aldi in its recall over the weekend, but is also removing any in-store produced bakery items that contain fresh peaches, according to the company announcement.
The possibly contaminated fruit was distributed and sold from June 1st through August 19th, according to the company announcement.
A map of the reported Salmonella cases can be found at the CDC website, here.
Salmonella, often found in contaminated meat, is a bacterial microorganism. The symptoms for Salmonella are fever, diarrhea and stomach cramps, but some cases can be severe and require hospitalizations. Symptoms normally start six hours to six days after infection and can last four to seven days.
Any person who has the recalled products in their possession should dispose of them immediately or return it to the store it was purchased from for a refund.
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Jacob Taylor is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Network. Follow Jacob on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]
