A recall of has been issued for American cucumbers that have also made their way north of the 49th parallel into Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
The recall is connected to a concern about potential salmonella contamination.
A warning from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) follows a similar advisory issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for 26 states on November 28.
The affected cucumbers came from SunFed Produce, which is based in Rio Rico, Arizona. The recall includes all sizes of whole, fresh cucumbers packaged in bulk cardboard containers labeled “SunFed” or in a white box or black plastic crate with a sticker that provides the implicated grower’s name, Agrotato, S.A. de C.V.
SunFed outlined the potential impact of salmonella in its company announcement attached to the FDA alert. It is “an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.”
In rare circumstances, writes SunFed, salmonella infection can get into the bloodstream and produce more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. “Symptoms of salmonellosis usually start 6 hours to 6 days after infection and last 4 to 7 days.”
Food recalls are often initiated by the source company as soon as it is aware of the potential dangers associated with a product. In this case, SunFed was informed by the FDA that the cucumbers were associated with reported salmonellosis illnesses between Oct. 12 – Nov. 15, 2024.
“As soon as we learned of this issue, we immediately acted to protect consumers. We are working closely with authorities and the implicated ranch to determine the possible cause,” SunFed President Craig Slate said in the company announcement. SunFed is also contacting each of its direct buyers to advise them of the recall, says the FDA.
Recalled food products are identified for withdrawal using their product codes, as well as the sell-by or use-by dates, pictures of the packaging and labels, and distribution information, such as the states/provinces and/or stores where they were sold).
The CFIA notifies the public by posting recall information on the Recalls and safety alerts website and issuing a Food Recall Warning when required. Consumers are encouraged to sign up for food recall notifications.
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