True Leaf Issues Precautionary Recall

True Leaf Farms issued a July 24 recall of some batches of spring mix and arugula after a preliminary lab test came back positive for salmonella.

But the presumptive positive was the result of a lab error by an outside company, and tests on like product at other labs have come back negative for contamination.

Church Brothers Produce, which handles the sales and marketing for True Leaf Farms, issued an immediate recall following the positive test result.

”There simply can be nothing more important than consumer safety,” said Jared Gill, plant manager for True Leaf Farms. “Withdrawing all of the product, and not just the one lot found with a potential problem, is simply the right thing to do. It is essential we do all we can to protect our consumers.”

True Leaf Farms and Church Brothers Produce are backing off the recall and are asking operators to use what they can of the shipped product. Communicating with customers has been a key part of the management plan, and the company is reinforcing to clients that the product is safe and the recall was simply a precaution.

“It’s hard to unrecall a recall,” said Tom Church, president of Church Brothers Produce.

The company conducts regular mock recalls, but putting an actual recall into practice is always a learning experience, Church said. The company already is looking at ways to make its crisis management plan more effective in the future, should it be needed.

“Did it work perfect? No, but everything we did, we did for the right reasons,” Church said.