Heritage International (USA) Inc. of Compton, Calif., is voluntarily recalling one lot of Trader Joe’s Raw Cashew Pieces with the following code: “BEST BEFORE 07.17.2016TF4” because of potential contamination with Salmonella.
The recall involves only one production lot. The recalled cashew pieces are packaged in 16-ounce, clear, non-resealable plastic bags with a barcode number of 00505154 and with the following lot code, “BEST BEFORE 07.17.2016TF4.” The “BEST BEFORE” information can be found on the back of the package above the barcode.
Heritage International distributed the cashews to to Trader Joe’s stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C. and Wisconsin.
No illnesses had been reported in relation to the recalled cashews as of the Jan. 15 recall notice on the Food and Drug Administration’s website.
Heritage International recalled the nuts after routine testing by an FDA contract laboratory revealed the presence of Salmonella in one lot of Trader Joe’s Raw Cashew Pieces. Other lots tested by the FDA contract laboratory and further testing of this lot by Trader Joe’s resulted in no additional findings of contamination according to the recall notice.
Customers who have purchased the specified lot code (BEST BEFORE 07.17.2016TF4) of Raw Cashew Pieces are urged not to eat the product, and to dispose of it.
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy people infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and causing more severe illnesses including arterial infections such as infected aneurysms as well as endocarditis and arthritis.
