Gills Onions expands recall after listeria is found in plant
Gills Onions of Oxnard, Calif., is expanding a July 18 voluntary recall after listeria was found in its plant.
The company on July 18 issued a recall of one day's production of diced and slivered red and yellow onions and diced celery and onion mix out of concern for possible listeria contamination.
Subsequently, Gills Onions and the FDA have been conducting concurrent investigations into the possible cause of contamination, Listeria was found in the facility in which the July 18 recalled product was processed. As a precautionary measure, Gills Onions has expanded the recall to include all products processed in that facility and which may still be in the marketplace. This facility has been out of service since July 17, pending the outcome of the investigation and mitigation efforts.
The expanded product list includes diced, slivered and whole peeled onions and diced onion/celery mix with use-by-dates on or before Aug. 3. No illnesses have been linked to the products, which were shipped directly from Gills Onions to retailers in Canada, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington.
Gills Onions is notifying all customers who received the recalled product directly from the company and requesting that they remove it from commerce. The company is also asking its direct customers to notify their customers of this recall.
“Our priority right now is to carry out this recall effectively and efficiently in order to reduce the risk to public health,’ said Steve Gill, president of the Gills Onions. “We’ve identified the problem, and we are taking aggressive actions to prevent this from happening again. These initial actions include the formulation of a panel of food safety experts and microbiologists with expertise in listeria control, an expansion of the required microbial surveillance and sanitation programs and continued testing.”
Consumers with questions should contact Gills Onions at 1-888-220-0436, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. PDT. For a list of recalled products, click here.
