FDA warns operators as pistachio recall grows – Nation’s Restaurant News

By Alan J.  Liddle

WASHINGTON (April  8, 2009) Federal officials
advised foodservice operators not to sell items made with pistachios until they
are certain those products do not contain nuts from Setton Pistachio of Terra
Bella Inc., which this week widened its recall over concerns of a salmonella
contamination.

Setton Pistachio on March 30 recalled certain lots of shelled and
in-shell roasted pistachios from the 2008 harvest because third-party testing
showed that some nuts were contaminated with multiple strains of salmonella.
After FDA and California Department of Public Health investigators uncovered
several possible salmonella contamination points in Setton Pistachio’s Terra
Bella processing plant, the company on Monday widened the recall to include all
roasted pistachios from the 2008 crop as well as raw shelled nuts.

The FDA, which last week advised consumers to hold off eating
foods with pistachios until they could determine the source of the nuts, this
week specifically addressed operators.

“The FDA is advising wholesalers, retailers, and operators of
restaurants and food service establishments not to sell or serve any pistachios
or pistachio-containing products until the source of the pistachios can be
determined,” the agency said in a notice updated Tuesday. “Firms should check
with their suppliers to determine whether the source of the pistachios is
Setton. If the source is Setton and the products are subject to this recall,
then the pistachios and pistachio products should not be sold.”

Because Setton sold the pistachios in question to more than 30
wholesalers and repackagers, and because the pistachios were used as ingredients
in a variety of foods, the expanded Setton Pistachio recall will affect many
products and is expected to result in other recalls, FDA sources said. They said
the agency has created a searchable database of recalled products, including
baked goods, candies and ice creams, at target=" _blank">http://www.fda.gov/pistachios/.

FDA representatives said Monday that pistachio trade groups posted
on target=" _blank">www.pistachiorecall.org a list of products they say do not
contain Setton Pistachio nuts. However, the FDA said it had not verified the
information on the list.

According to the FDA, information from a joint FDA and California
Department of Public Health inspection of Setton’s Terra Bella plant “indicates
the presence of salmonella in critical areas of the facility and the potential
for cross-contamination between raw and roasted products.” Once the public
health agencies shared this information with Setton, the company chose to expand
its recall, the FDA said.

The FDA said consumers have reported several illnesses that may be
associated with the pistachios, but that it is not yet known if the salmonella
strains found in Setton Pistachio's products were involved. The agency said it
is conducting genetic testing of the samples to pursue all links.

Setton Pistachio, reportedly the nation's second-largest processor
of pistachios, is a division of Setton International Foods Inc. of Commack,
N.Y.