Setton Pistachio, of Terra Bella Inc., has widened its voluntary recall to include all roasted shell pistachios as well as in-shell pistachios, after federal investigators said they found salmonella bacteria in “critical areas”. The 2008 crop withdrawal includes raw shell pistachios that are not then roasted before being released into the market.
Setton Pistachio is the second largest pistachio processor in the USA. The company stresses that the voluntary recall has been expanded as a precaution.
Kraft Foods Inc, a client of Setton Pistachio, informed authorities in March that one of its pistachio-containing products – Back to Nature Trail Mix – was tainted with salmonella. Kraft identified Setton as the source of the contamination. This resulted in a national recall of pistachios on March 30th of specific lots of roasted shelled pistachios, some toe bags of roasted in-shell pistachios, as well as Setton Farms brand roasted salted shelled pistachios in 9 ounce bags. That recall, unlike this present expanded one, represented a small proportion of the 2008 harvest, about 2 million pounds.
Subsequently, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the CDPH (California Department of Public Health) took a large number of samples from the Setton plant for lab tests. Test results indicated that the scale of salmonella contamination was greater than original estimates, so Setton Pistachio announced that it was pulling more products from the market.
According to Setton Pistachio, 30 countries around the world import its products.
Over 30 wholesalers and food manufacturers use Setton ingredients in a wide range of products. According to authorities this factor will make it much harder to track down all potentially tainted products.
Written by Christian Nordqvist