Vita Food Products, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois is notifying the public that 8,088 individual retail packages of 4 oz. Vita Classic Premium Sliced Smoked Atlantic Nova Salmon are being voluntarily recalled due to the potential for contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. 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. To date, no confirmed illnesses or complaints have been reported by customers, although the Company is closely monitoring the situation.
7,260 of the individual retail packages were sold at Publix stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Safeway stores in California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and District of Columbia, Meijer stores in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, Vons stores in California, Genuardi’s stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Winn Dixie stores in Florida, and the Edgewater Produce store in Chicago, IL on or after July 25 of this year may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. In addition, 828 individual retail packages of this same product have either possibly been sold or are being offered for sale at various grocery stores in the Buffalo, NY and Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan areas and Northeast Ohio.
The product that is the subject of this public announcement and recall are packages (black in color) of smoked Atlantic salmon that bear the Vita logo centered at the bottom of the package that is immediately visible to the consumer. Each package contains 4-5 slices (total 4 oz.) of smoked salmon; the slices are contained in a vacuum sealed package that is 7¾“ wide by 7¼” in height by ¼” in thickness. IMPORTANT: The SELL BY Date and Code of DEC 15 2011 01961B is centered in the window on the front of each package. This announcement and recall only applies to packages that bear that SELL BY Date and Code.
If any consumer purchased a product with that SELL BY Date and Code from a retail store on or after July 25, 2011 he or she should not consume any of the Vita Classic Premium Sliced Smoked Atlantic Nova Salmon product. Then, the Company asks that it be sealed in plastic bag or placed in some similar container and returned to the retailer from which it was purchased. The Company is asking that any person who has purchased the product with this SELL BY Date and Code call this telephone number 1-800-989-8482 during the hours of 8am to 5pm (Central Time Zone) Monday through Friday. If you are experiencing any unusual or severe symptoms such as those described above, go to an emergency room immediately or contact your physician for immediate advice.
Source: FDA
