WASHINGTON The U.S. Food & Drug Administration said pistachio producer trade groups have provided an online list of products they say do not contain nuts implicated in a recent salmonella contamination, but the federal agency stressed it has not verified the information.
The CAL-PURE co-op of California pistachio growers and the Western Pistachio Association created the www.pistachiorecall.org website that lists products the producers say do not include nuts from California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc. Setton Pistachio is voluntarily recalling about one million pounds of shelled and in-shell pistachios after some of its nuts were found to be contaminated by multiple strains of salmonella by a firm testing the products on behalf of a manufacturer.
“The information on this website has not been verified by FDA, and FDA is not responsible for its contents,” the agency said of the product list at PistachioRecall.org.
FDA officials told reporters in a conference call on March 30 that the agency was advising consumers to halt consumption of all products made with pistachios until the federal organization and the California Department of Public Health could determine the extent of distribution of Setton’s products. The FDA subsequently modified its written advisory to say that consumers should not eat any pistachio products that they were not absolutely certain did not contain nuts from Setton Pistachio.
Meanwhile the list of food products being recalled in connection with Setton Pistachio’s recall continues to grow. An FDA supplied link to all recalls the agency is aware of is available at http://www.fda.gov/pistachios/.
The FDA’s page of frequently asked questions about the pistachio recall is at http://www.fda.gov/pistachios/consumer_advice.html.
The FDA said consumers have reported several illnesses that may be associated with the pistachios, but that it is not yet known if the salmonella strains found in Setton Pistachio's products were involved. The agency said it is conducting genetic testing of the samples to pursue all links.
Setton Pistachio, reportedly the nation's second-largest processor of pistachios, is a division of Setton International Foods Inc. of Commack, N.Y.
Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].
