Listeria fears lead some supermarkets to yank veggies

Some big supermarket chains and food suppliers have issued recalls for bags and packages of fresh-cut vegetables across the U.S. because of potential listeria contamination reported by a major industry supplier.

Among the chains that have issued notices are Whole Foods Market, Meijer and Albertsons. In addition, the supplier, Mann Packing of Salinas, Calif., also issued a recall that resulted in products being pulled from the shelves at such big chains as Walmart and Trader Joe’s.

At issue are the many products that contain vegetables sourced from Mann Packing. The recalls stem from a single test of a single product that occurred in Canada, and no illnesses have been reported, said Gina Nucci, marketing director for Mann.

With retailers pulling recalled food from shelves, Nucci urged consumers to return any of the affected products to the store where they bought it.

Among the biggest retailers in the recall is Meijer, a supermarket chain based in Grand Rapids, Mich. It said it has 39 fresh vegetable products covered by the recall. They include vegetable trays, broccoli florets, asparagus spears and an “autumn harvest salad.” The food was sold in stores in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Albertsons’ recall includes some seafood-based meal kits that included fresh vegetables as ingredients. Whole Foods is recalling salads from 10 northern California stores that were sold by the pound at salad bars. Other companies affected include Randalls, Tom Thumb, Safeway, Vons, Pak N Save and supplier Triple B.

GETTY IMAGES About a dozen grocery stores across the United States have recalled vegetables from supplier Mann Packing.