Wawona Packing Company of Cutler, California is expanding its voluntary recall from July 19, 2014, of whole white and yellow peaches, white and yellow nectarines, plums and pluots due to the potential of the products being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which 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 July 19 recall covered specific lots of products packed from June 1 through July 12, 2014. Wawona Packing Company is expanding the recall, as a precautionary step, to cover all products packed in the Wawona Packing Co. facility from June 1, 2014 through July 17, 2014 because the company’s experts have yet to identify with scientific certainty the source of Listeria monocytogenes in the facility.
Beginning on July 18, 2014, no products have been packed at the Wawona Packing facility in Cutler, CA. Products packed on or after July 18 outside of the Wawona Packing Co. facility are not affected by this recall.
Consumers can identify the recalled products by the information provided in the attached photographs. The recalled products include the following brands marketed to consumers: Sweet 2 Eat, Sweet 2 Eat Organic, Mrs. Smittcamp’s, and are also packed in private labels. These brands will be on the boxes or on the stickers placed on individual fruit. Anyone who has the recalled products in their possession should not consume them and should discard them. If consumers are seeking reimbursement, they should return to the store where they purchased the product to request a refund, providing proof of purchase or receipt if available. Consumers with questions may contact Wawona Packing’s consumer information desk at 1-888-232-9912, M-F, 8am-11pm EST or Sat-Sun 8am-8pm EST, or visit www.wawonapacking.com for a copy of this press release and product photos.
Wawona Packing shipped the recalled products directly to retailers and wholesalers who resell or further distribute the products. Because we do not know the locations of the companies or stores that received the products from our direct customers, the company is issuing a nationwide recall.
.The July 19 recall was initiated based on internal company testing. The company shut down the packing lines, retrofitted equipment, sanitized the facility, and is working with experts on Listeria in making further improvements to the food safety program. Our packing lines in the Cutler, California facility will not reopen until we know, in consultation with experts, that they are safe.
“Wawona Packing believes in the highest standards of food safety. We have been working around the clock to determine the source of the Listeria monocytogenes. We have brought in nationally known experts in food safety to investigate every part of our packing facility, and we are working with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration,” said company president Brent Smittcamp.
