Advisory issued for celery sticks distributed to Virginia
VENN
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A company has voluntarily issued a precautionary advisory for its washed and ready-to-eat celery sticks distributed to multiple states, including Virginia.
On Thursday, April 10, the company Duda Farm Fresh Foods voluntarily issued a precautionary advisory for a single production lot of washed and ready-to-eat Marketside Celery Sticks with the best if used by date of March 23, 2025.
Officials said the product involved in the advisory can be identified by the following details:
Store: Walmart Distributed to select stores in: Alabama, California, Colorado, Washington D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming. Product UPC Code: 6 81131 16151 0 Lot Code: P047650 Best If Used by Date: March 23, 2025 Pack Size & Packaging: 4/1.6-ounce, bag
Marketside Celery Sticks (Photo courtesy: U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
The product is past its "best if used by" date and is no longer in stores. However, customers may have frozen the item for later use.
The company advises consumers who have this product in their possession, including in their freezer, to not consume it and to discard the product.
The advisory was initiated due to the possibility of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, which was discovered during a random sampling by the Georgia Department of Agriculture from a Georgia store location where one of the multiple samples yielded a positive test result, according to the company.
Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes deadly infections in young children, elderly people and others with weakened immune systems.
Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria monocytogenes infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women, according to officials.
As of Thursday, no illnesses have been reported in connection with this product.
The company said the voluntary advisory does not apply to any other Marketside or Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Inc. produced products.
For more information on this advisory, visit the United States Food and Drug Administration's website.
