Gills Onions recalls one lot of diced onions
Gills Onions recalls one lot of diced onions
Oxnard, CA-based Gills Onions LLC has voluntarily recalled some of its diced yellow onions after the Washington state Department of Agriculture, during routine testing, detected Listeria monocytogenes in one retail bag of diced yellow onions.
The company issued a press release Tuesday, June 19, on the recall. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
The identified lot, 2017-R, is no longer in production at Gills Onions. And as a precautionary measure, both retail and foodservice diced packs have been recalled. The retail product was labeled with the "Trader Joe's" brand name and was distributed to stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.
Gills Onions is working with both state and federal officials to determine the cause, and there have been no reported illnesses associated with the product. That retail bag was from the "Trader Joe's" brand diced onions packaged in a 10-ounce bag with Lot No. 2017-R and a best-if-used-by date of June 16, 2007. The lot information on the 10-ounce diced retail product can be found printed directly on the back of the package. The foodservice packages were packed in four five-pound cartons and labeled under the "Gills Onions" brand and the "Sysco Natural" brand, both with the Lot 2017-R and the best-if-used by date of June 16, 2007, printed directly on the front of the five-pound bag as well as on the outside carton label. Consumers and retailers who had the recalled product were encouraged to either destroy or return the product to the place of purchase.
Nelia Alamo, vice president of marketing for Gills Onions, said that although no illnesses had been reported and only one 10-ounce retail bag of diced onions tested positive, the company wants to be sure that "all diced products associated with the production lot are accounted for."
She continued, "We are committed to food safety at all levels, and we will always put our customers and our consumer first." The financial cost of the recall for Gills Onions is of "least concern" to the company, she said.
"We have stepped up procedures so that it doesn't happen again," Ms. Alamo said. "I'm very proud of our food-safety program." She said that Gills Onions is "looking at all aspects" of its operation.
The onions were grown by Gills Onions in California's Imperial Valley and packed at its Oxnard facility. On June 3, the company -- as a normal part of its business -- switched its onion growing to the San Joaquin Valley.
Trader Joe's was notified by the Washington Department of Agriculture of the Listeria incident, and then Trader Joe's in turn promptly notified Gills Onions. Because there is no product in inventory, determining the cause of the Listeria presence is more difficult, Ms. Alamo said.
Gills Onions' ability to trace back actual orders through lot coding allowed for a speedy response by the company, Ms. Alamo said, and the firm ran reports that sorted out information and verified it through other logs, then notified affected customers. The first of those alerts was sent within an hour of Gills Onions receiving the news from Trader Joe's, she said.
The company issued a press release Tuesday, June 19, on the recall. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
The identified lot, 2017-R, is no longer in production at Gills Onions. And as a precautionary measure, both retail and foodservice diced packs have been recalled. The retail product was labeled with the "Trader Joe's" brand name and was distributed to stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.
Gills Onions is working with both state and federal officials to determine the cause, and there have been no reported illnesses associated with the product. That retail bag was from the "Trader Joe's" brand diced onions packaged in a 10-ounce bag with Lot No. 2017-R and a best-if-used-by date of June 16, 2007. The lot information on the 10-ounce diced retail product can be found printed directly on the back of the package. The foodservice packages were packed in four five-pound cartons and labeled under the "Gills Onions" brand and the "Sysco Natural" brand, both with the Lot 2017-R and the best-if-used by date of June 16, 2007, printed directly on the front of the five-pound bag as well as on the outside carton label. Consumers and retailers who had the recalled product were encouraged to either destroy or return the product to the place of purchase.
Nelia Alamo, vice president of marketing for Gills Onions, said that although no illnesses had been reported and only one 10-ounce retail bag of diced onions tested positive, the company wants to be sure that "all diced products associated with the production lot are accounted for."
She continued, "We are committed to food safety at all levels, and we will always put our customers and our consumer first." The financial cost of the recall for Gills Onions is of "least concern" to the company, she said.
"We have stepped up procedures so that it doesn't happen again," Ms. Alamo said. "I'm very proud of our food-safety program." She said that Gills Onions is "looking at all aspects" of its operation.
The onions were grown by Gills Onions in California's Imperial Valley and packed at its Oxnard facility. On June 3, the company -- as a normal part of its business -- switched its onion growing to the San Joaquin Valley.
Trader Joe's was notified by the Washington Department of Agriculture of the Listeria incident, and then Trader Joe's in turn promptly notified Gills Onions. Because there is no product in inventory, determining the cause of the Listeria presence is more difficult, Ms. Alamo said.
Gills Onions' ability to trace back actual orders through lot coding allowed for a speedy response by the company, Ms. Alamo said, and the firm ran reports that sorted out information and verified it through other logs, then notified affected customers. The first of those alerts was sent within an hour of Gills Onions receiving the news from Trader Joe's, she said.
