A Listeria-prompted recall late last year resulted in Dole temporarily suspending operations from two production facilities; now the company is pulling packaged salads processed at its Springfield, OH, and Soledad, CA, facilities as well.

The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating illnesses in a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7. According to the CDC, as of Jan. 6, 10 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli have been reported from four states. Consumer purchase data indicate that seven people purchased Nature's Basket Power Greens or Simple Truth Organic Power Greens at grocery stores before becoming sick.

For two months this fall, East Coast shoppers became accustomed to sharing the parking lot of their favorite Stop & Shop, The Giant Co., Giant Foods or Food Lion supermarket with a bright green food truck wrapped to encourage thoughts of new Dole Salad Kits.

Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. is recalling from the market all Dole-branded and private label packaged salads processed at its Bessemer City, NC, and its Yuma, AZ, production facilities due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. and is also temporarily suspending operations at both facilities to conduct an extensive cleaning and sanitation protocol. The company estimated the one-off cost associated with this temporary suspension will be between $15 million and $25 million.

Crop One Holdings, which has been attempting to perfect and advance its data and technology-driven vertical farming practices, expects to open a large-scale operation in the Middle East in 2022 and grow at a rate of one large facility per year over the next five years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local partners, is working to investigate a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections associated with the consumption of packaged salad. To date, this outbreak has been associated with 10 illnesses, 10 hospitalizations and one death spanning eight states.