Thousands of public school students, as well as hospital patients, may have been served fresh cucumbers that are under recall because of potential Salmonella contamination.
“Prime Time Produce has issued a voluntary product recall for certain lots of cucumbers, delivered to multiple locations in Bakersfield, due to potential salmonella contamination,” according to a notice posted Monday by the Kern County Public Health Services Department in California.
A grower-distributor based in Coachella, CA, Prime Time Produce did not have any information about a cucumber recall on its website as of 11 p.m. EST Monday. Nor did the California Department of Public Health or the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Michelle Corson, a spokeswoman for the Kern County public health department told the Bakersfield Californian that a local distributor informed the department of the recall, not Prime Time Produce.
The University of California and schools in two districts, Bakersfield City Schools and Greenfield Union School District, received the cucumbers. Three hospitals and two restaurants also received the potentially contaminated cucumbers. Those hospitals and restaurants were:
- San Joaquin Community Hospital;
- Bakersfield Memorial Hospital;
- Bakersfield Heart Hospital;
- Logan’s Roadhouse; and
- BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse.
The Kern County public health department did not specify when the cucumbers may have been served at the university, restaurants or hospitals.
Students in the two school districts may have been served the cucumbers on salad bars from Oct. 19 through Oct. 28. The schools in those districts that received the recalled cucumbers are:
- Cato Middle School;
- Granite Point Elementary;
- Chavez Elementary
- Greenfield Jr. High;
- College Heights Elementary;
- Horizon Elementary;
- Eissler Elementary;
- McKee Middle;
- Fletcher Elementary;
- Ollivier Jr. High;
- Garza Elementary;
- Palla Elementary;
- Harding Elementary;
- Planz Elementary;
- Harris Elementary;
- Horace Mann Elementary;
- Jefferson Elementary;
- Longfellow Elementary;
- Munsey Elementary;
- Nichols Elementary;
- Noble Elementary;
- Pioneer Elementary;
- Roosevelt Elementary;
- Thorner Elementary;
- Voorhies Elementary; and
- William Penn Elementary.
Anyone who has eaten fresh cucumbers at any of the locations listed by the county health department and developed symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek medical attention and alert their doctor to the possible exposure to the pathogen.
Symptoms usually begin 12 to 72 hours after ingesting the Salmonella bacteria. Symptoms can include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The sickness often lasts four to seven days, and most individuals recover without treatment.
There have been no reports of illness due to consumption of this product in Kern County.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)