BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman says a Reser's Fine Foods, Inc. recall of packaged salads produced at its Topeka, Kansas plant was prompted by a routine check of products sold in Canada. FDA spokeswoman Juli Ann Putnam said that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found Listeria monocytogenes in some ready-to-eat Cheesy Macaroni salad and Reser's issued a voluntary recall of affected products.
Putnam says a follow-up inspection of the plant by the FDA and the state of Kansas determined there was a potential for cross-contamination with other products, so the recall was expanded. In all, some 450 products sold under the name of Beaverton-based Reser's, and others, were recalled. Listeria can produce fever, headache, diarrhea and abdominal pain, and can be fatal for people with weak immune systems.