With Thanksgiving behind us, it’s time to purge the refrigerator of leftover ingredients and expired foods—especially if you shop at Costco. The warehouse retailer l in the middle of a nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to eggs and potentially contaminated cucumbers. A combined total of 29 states have been impacted by the outbreak, which has left multiple people sick. Before you meal prep breakfast for the week or whip up a winter cucumber salad, here’s everything you need to know about the foodborne illness.
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On Nov. 27, Handsome Brook Farms announced it would be voluntarily recalling 10,800 retail units of its Organic Pasture Raised 24-Count Eggs, per a recall notice posted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The eggs were distributed to Costco and sold under the company’s in-house brand, Kirkland Signature.
Handsome Brook Farms tells customers that these eggs “have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.” Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Salmonella is a type of bacteria that can lead to serious and potentially fatal infections in children under 5, adults over 50 with underlying health risks, the elderly, and those who are immunocompromised.
“The recall was initiated after the company determined that eggs not intended for retail distribution were instead packaged and distributed in retail packaging. Additional supply chain controls and retraining are being put in place to prevent recurrence,” reads the notice.
FDA
The potentially contaminated eggs went into distribution on Nov. 22. They were delivered to 25 Costco locations in five states, including Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Handsome Brook Farms says customers can identify whether their Kirkland organic eggs were affected by locating the Universal Product Code (UPC), Julian Code, and Use By Date. Recalled eggs will bear “UPC 9661910680” and have a corresponding Julian Code of “327” and Use By Date of “Jan. 5, 2025.” They were packaged in plastic cartons, sealed with a Kirkland Signature sticker on top.
As of this writing, there have been no reports of illness related to Handsome Brook Farms. However, adverse health effects have been linked to a separate cucumber Salmonella outbreak.
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On Nov. 28, the FDA was alerted of another recall due to potential Salmonella contamination. SunFed Produce, LLC (SunFed) revealed that it would be pulling “all sizes of whole fresh American cucumbers packaged in bulk cardboard containers labeled with the ‘SunFed’ label or in a generic white box or black plastic crate with a sticker that provides the implicated grower’s name, ‘Agrotato, S.A. de C.V.’”
Common Salmonella symptoms include diarrhea, severe stomach cramps, headache, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Those with the infection may start to exhibit symptoms within six hours of exposure, says the CDC. In most healthy people, Salmonella will clear up on its own. But if symptoms worsen or persist longer than a few days, speak with a healthcare provider. More advanced cases can result in severe dehydration or reactive arthritis, and there’s the risk of it spreading to the bones, joints, brain, or other internal organs.
FDA
The recalled American cucumbers were distributed by SunFed to Walmart, Wegmans, Albertsons, and Costco and sold between Oct. 12 and Nov. 26. The FDA first prompted the recall, alerting SunFed of multiple reported salmonellosis illnesses associated with the cucumbers.
“As soon as we learned of this issue, we immediately acted to protect consumers. We are working closely with authorities and the implicated ranch to determine the possible cause,” SunFed president Craig Slate said in the notice. The company assures that “no other products sold by or farms supplying to SunFed are implicated in this recall.”
The recall has impacted more than 25 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, plus certain regions of Canada.
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Per SunFed, the potentially contaminated cucumbers will have a Price Look Up (PLU) code of “4062.” Cucumbers marked with this PLU sticker shouldn’t be consumed and should be tossed out immediately.
“We also encourage them to clean and sanitize surfaces that could have come into contact with the recalled product to reduce cross-contamination,” says the company.
