Glass Onion Catering recalls salads and sandwich wraps over E. coli concerns

Glass Onion Catering, a US-based pre-packaged gourmet foods supplier, has initiated a recall of approximately 181,620lbs of ready-to-eat salads and sandwich wrap products with cooked chicken and ham, as they could potentially be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

According to the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), these products are being recalled in conjunction with other foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The recalled products that are regulated by the FSIS include 12oz packs of ‘delish pan pacific chop salad’, 13.4oz packs of ‘delish California style grilled chicken salad’, 9.9oz packs of ‘delish uncured applewood smoked ham & cheese wrap’, 10.5oz packs of ‘delish grilled chicken caesar wrap’, 10.9oz packs of ‘delish southwestern chicken wrap’, 11.5oz packs of ‘delish greek brand low-calorie grilled chicken wrap’ and 9.9oz packs of ‘delish white chicken club wrap’.

Affected products also include 11.2oz packs of ‘delish asian style chicken wrap’, 13.4oz packs of ‘atherstone Fine Foods Southwestern Style White Chicken Wrap with Chimichurri Sauce’, 10.7oz plastic containers of ‘TRADER JOE’S Field Fresh Chopped Salad with Grilled Chicken’, and 11oz plastic containers of ‘TRADER JOSÉ’S MEXICALI SALAD with Chili Lime Chicken’.

The recall also includes 10.5oz packs of ‘atherstone Fine Foods Asian Style White Chicken Wrap with Mango Vinaigrette’, 9.9oz packs of ‘atherstone Fine Foods Grilled White Chicken Caesar Wrap with Caesar Dressing’, 10.7oz packs of ‘super fresh Foods California Grilled Chicken Salad, Low Fat Mendocino Mustard Dressing’, 10.7oz packs of ‘Lunch Spot Southwestern Style Chicken Wrap, Chile & Lime Dressing’ and 9.2oz packs of ‘super fresh Foods Pan Pacific Chopped Chicken Salad, Ginger Soy Dressing’.

Produced between 23 September and 6 November, these products were shipped to distribution centres for retail sale in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington.

On 29 October, the FSIS began monitoring a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses.

Last week, the FDA notified the FSIS that California authorities reported case-patients consuming pre-packaged salads with grilled chicken.

Working closely with state public health departments, the FSIS revealed that the grilled chicken salads were associated with the illness cluster.

Between 29 September and 26 October, 26 case-patients were identified in three states with indistinguishable E. coli O157:H7 PFGE patterns.

About 15 of them were reported to have consumed ready-to-eat pre-packaged salads prior to illness; further investigation revealed Glass Onion Catering was the supplier of the implicated products.

FSIS stated that it will continue to work with the FDA and other partners to identify the source of the contamination.

The agency and Glass Onion Catering are concerned that some of the affected products might be in consumers’ refrigerators and have advised consumers to destroy the product.