FDA Warns Not to Eat Two Brands of Pistachios

This just in from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned consumers not to eat two brands of pistachios repacked by Orca Distribution West Inc. of Anaheim, Calif.

The brands are

• California Prime Produce
• Orange County Orchards

The pistachios may be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

The products affected by the current warning are associated with an earlier recall by Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc. The distributor, Orca, received and repacked some pistachios recalled by Setton Pistachio.

The two brands of pistachios, California Prime Produce and Orange County Orchards, were distributed to retail locations in airports and hotels nationwide. Both brands were packaged in clear 6-ounce flexible plastic Ziploc bags, UPC Number: 8 10826 01116 2, with Sell By Dates of 7/30/09 and 8/30/09.

Symptoms of Salmonella Infection
Healthy people infected with Salmonella often experience

• fever
• diarrhea (which may be bloody)
• nausea
• vomiting
• abdominal pain

In rare circumstances, the Salmonella organism can get into the bloodstream and cause more severe illnesses such as arthritis and infection of part of the heart.

FDA Actions

FDA visited Orca as part of its follow-up checks on Setton Pistachio’s recall. The agency found that products that were part of the recall had been repacked and distributed by Orca under the California Prime Produce and Orange County Orchards brands.

Orca has not made a public announcement regarding these products. FDA has alerted consumers so that they can take appropriate action.

Advice to Consumers

• Do not eat the recalled products.
• Throw out any recalled products so that people and pets cannot retrieve them. Avoid bare-hand contact with the products and wash your hands or other items that came in contact with the products with warm, soapy water.
• Report unexpected side effects to the FDA consumer complaint coordinator in your area of the country.
• Get the most updated list of all the products associated with the recall by Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc. at FDA’s pistachio product recall site.

This article appears on FDA's Consumer Updates page, which features the latest on all FDA-regulated products.

Date Posted: June 22, 2009