Carrots recalled over E. coli risk

Grimmway Farms has issued a recall of select organic whole carrots and organic baby carrots that may have been contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) O121:H19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said these products may be associated with an outbreak involving 39 illnesses and one death.

The following recalled products were shipped directly to retail distribution centers nationwide in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada:

• Organic whole carrots that do not have a best-if-used-by date printed on the bag but were available for purchase at retail stores Aug. 14 through Oct. 23
• Organic baby carrots with best-if-used-by dates ranging from Sept. 11 through Nov. 12. The recalled carrots should not be available for purchase in stores but may be in consumers' refrigerators or freezers.

The company has also notified its customers who received the recalled product directly from Grimmway Farms and requested that those customers notify distributors of the recall products. The implicated farms are out of production, and none of the recalled carrots have tested positive for E. coli O121:H19.

The recalled carrots should no longer be available for purchase but may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who purchased carrots in the table above and still have them in their refrigerator or freezer should not consume them; they should be destroyed or discarded so they cannot be consumed.