Ready-to-eat salads sold at Walmart, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are being recalled for salmonella and listeria concerns

If you’ve recently purchased a salad from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, 7-Eleven or Walmart, you might want to hold off on eating it.

Suppliers recalled a combined 2,811 pounds of pre-made salads on Wednesday, Oct. 17, after a potential contamination originating from a shared supplier surfaced. GHSE, Prime Deli Corporation, Mary’s Harvest Fresh Foods, Inc. and GH Foods CA were among the suppliers forced to recall salads according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announcement.

The salads, which were made earlier in the month, contained a corn ingredient that could be contaminated with both salmonella and listeria monocytogenes. Though there haven’t been any illnesses reported as of yet, according to a press release, the “FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.”

Recalled salads include:

• Walmart’s Marketside brand Fiesta Salad with Steak
• 7-Eleven Bistro Southwest Style Salad with Bacon
• Trader Joe’s Mexicali Inspired Salad with Chili Seasoned Chicken
• Mary’s Harvest Southwest Chicken Wrap with Rib Meat
• 365 by Whole Foods Market BBQ Style Chopped Salad with Chicken
• 365 by Whole Foods Market Chicken Fajita Salad
• GH Foods CA’s Santa Fe Style Salad with Chicken and BBQ Style Salad Kit with White Chicken

Salmonella and listeria are two foodborne infections that have wreaked havoc in recent years, causing many of the widespread food-poisoning outbreaks you’ve probably heard about. One major outbreak to strike in the past decade was the 2009 salmonella outbreak that originated in a peanut factory, which caused health issues for over 500 people. Eight died.

Earlier this year there was a multistate outbreak of E. coli infections that had been linked to bags of chopped romaine lettuce, which has shed light on the unfortunate trend of salad and fresh produce, in general, as a major player in the food poising world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six Americans gets food poisoning each year, a majority of cases due to leafy greens. In today’s society, people are consuming more fresh produce, meaning more risk of exposure to food-related illness, explains this Vox piece. That said, a prepacked salad oftentimes “amplifies the risk” of poisoning. So if possible, maybe skip the prepacked bags of green.

To find more information on active food recalls and alerts, you can visit this page, which keeps track of all announcements and outbreaks.