The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified ProSource Inc. (dba ProSource Produce LLC) as the source of a 37-state salmonella outbreak linked to whole, fresh onions.
In announcing the alert Wednesday, the FDA and CDC said Hailey, Idaho-based ProSource has voluntarily agreed to recall potentially contaminated red, yellow and white onions imported from the Mexican state of Chihuahua from July 1 to Aug. 27 and sold to restaurants, foodservice and possibly grocery stores. Both agencies have urged consumers, merchants and suppliers who have or may have purchased these onions — including jumbo, colossal, medium, sweet and possibly other varieties — to discard them.
Through Oct. 20, the outbreak of salmonella oranienburg has resulted in 652 illnesses and 129 hospitalizations, but no deaths, the FDA reported. State and local partners also are working with the FDA and the CDC on the investigation.
“Illness subclusters investigated in this outbreak thus far are associated with restaurants and foodservice locations. That’s why as our investigation continues, we’re advising restaurants, retailers and consumers to not eat, sell or serve red, yellow and white onions supplied by ProSource Inc. that were imported from the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, from July 1 through Aug. 27, or products containing these onions. ProSource Inc. has agreed to voluntarily recall such onions,” Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for food policy and response at FDA, said in a statement