This Thanksgiving, whether you’re cooking for a crowd or simply preparing a feast for one, there are some foods federal health officials warn aren’t worth the risk when it comes to getting your gobble on. From E. coli to inspection issues in a number of popular holiday items, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recall list is a must-see before making your shopping list for your Thanksgiving meal.
Keep scrolling to see which foods you should think twice about before including them in your holiday recipes:
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Romaine lettuce
Romaine lettuce may add a fresh crunch to your Thanksgiving salad, but U.S. health officials are warning people not to eat that which was grown in Salinas, California due to an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 67 people since mid-September.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is urging people not to eat the vegetable if they are not sure where it was grown, whether it be a whole head, heart or pre-cut salad mix, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad.
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Raw pork products
More than 515,000 lbs. of raw pork products produced and distributed by Illinois business Morris Meat Packing have also been recalled recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced last week.
The massive recall stemmed from the discovery that the raw, intact pork products were being produced without the being inspected and outside federal inspection hours, ranging from products produced between Nov. 15, 2017 and Nov. 9 of this year.
No reports of any illness or injury from the products has been made, but officials urge people to throw away any affected products they may have purchased or stored in their freezer, including pork loin, pork back ribs and pork chops. The full list of products can be found here.
Cottage cheese
Cottage cheese may pair nicely with some of your Thanksgiving recipes, but make sure you check the label before eating it! About 9,500 cases of Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese were recalled Monday, the FDA announced Monday, due to reports of loose pieces of red plastic ad metal making their way into the product.
Consumption of these pieces, the FDA warned, could cause injury to teeth, mouth, throat, stomach or intestine tissues if swallowed.
The company has received six complaints from consumers about the presence of plastic in their cottage cheese, but no one has fallen ill or been injured. For a list of affected products, click here.
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Soybeans
Healthy eaters should look closely at their organic soybeans before they prep for Thanksgiving this year, asย Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc. announced on Nov. 13 that it was recalling Natural Grocers brand 2-pound Organic Soybeans because they could be tainted with mold.ย
The affected product, which was discovered during routine testing by the company, is packaged in 2-lb. plastic bags with the company’s logo. Only products bearing 19-168 and 19-205 in the lower left-hand corner as the packed-on dates are affected
The recalled product was distributed to 154 Natural Grocers’ stores located in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. For a full list of affected stores, click here.
Cheese Nips
Looking for some pre-dinner snacking? Make sure you check the packaging of your Cheese Nips before you chow down after the FDA announced Nov. 20 that a limited quantity of the 11-ounce boxes of the cheesy snacks were being recalled due to the potential presence of “small food-grade yellow plastic pieces” that broke off from a dough scraper and was incorporated into the production.
Mondelฤz Global LLC first became aware of this issue with the Cheese Nips when the plastic pieces were noticed on the manufacturing equipment, though there have been no reported injuries or illnesses to this date. Only a limited number of the products are affected by the recall, with details on the specific packages available here.
Blackberries
Fresh blackberries might be divine in a Thanksgiving pie, but people need to be careful about the source of the berry after a multistate hepatitis A outbreak in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin that the FDA and CDC have linked to the grocery store Fresh Thyme Farmers Market.
As of Nov. 15, 14 people had been confirmed to have fallen ill from their consumption of fresh blackberries from Fresh Thyme in those five states, but the FDA is warning people in the 11 states served by the same distribution center โ Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin โ not to eat fresh blackberries if purchased between Sept. 9 and Sept. 30 from Fresh Thyme Farmers Market stores.
Ground beef
Ground beef could also be questionable this holiday season after the FSIS and CDC announced on Nov. 15 that more than 34,000 lbs. of the product produced by Hanford, California’s Central Valley Meat Co., Inc. may be contaminated with Salmonella Dublin.
Salmonella Dublin has already been reported as infecting 11 people in seven states, hospitalizing one person and killing a California resident. The recalled beef was produced on July 23, 2019, and shipped to various retail locations in California. The CDC warns it is labeled as as Stater Bros Ground Beef brand with the establishment number “EST. 6063A.” A full list of affected labels can be seen here.
Keeping these recalls in mind, you should be in for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!
Photo credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
