Henry Avocado Recall: What Products Were Recalled for Listeria?

Avocados

Getty The avocados were sold in bulk across California, Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina and New Hampshire.

Henry Avocado Corporation is recalling California-grown avocados sold in bulk at retail stores because they might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported. The recall is voluntary and precautionary, a result of positive test results on environmental samples taken during a routine government inspection at Henry Avacado’s California packing facility.

The recall includes both conventional and organic avocados grown and packaged in California.

Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which can cause high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea in healthy individuals, and potentially deadly infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.


Avocados Sold in 6 States Have Been Recalled

An avocado.

Creative CommonsAn avocado.

The company says the recalled avocados were sold in bulk across the following states:

  • California
  • Arizona
  • Florida
  • Wisconsin
  • North Carolina
  • New Hampshire

“Henry Avocado is contacting all affected customers to confirm that the recalled products are immediately removed from store shelves.  For conventional products purchased at retail, consumers can identify the recalled products by the ‘Bravocado’ stickers. Henry Avocado organic products do not carry the ‘Bravocado’ label on the sticker. Instead, those products are labeled ‘organic’ and include ‘California’ on the sticker.  Retailers can identify Henry Avocado organic products by the bar code on the stickers,” the company said in a statement.

Anyone who has already bought recalled avocados should not consume them. Instead, throw them away or return them to the store for a full refund.  Henry Avocado asks consumers with further questions to contact them directly at (760) 745-6632, Ext 132.

Listeria monocytogenes is found in soil and water. The bacterium has been found in raw foods as well as in processed foods that become contaminated after processing. It is killed by pasteurization and cooking. Washing raw fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating helps reduce the possibility of contracting listeriosis.  

Avocados Imported from Mexico are Not Recalled

Only avocados from California growers pose a threat. Avocados imported from Mexico and distributed by Henry Avocado will continue to be sold.

Nine out of every 10 imported avocados in the United States come from Michoacán, Mexico, the largest producer of avocados in the world. Mexico produces about a third of all avocados sold in the world.

“In 2017, Michoacán exported more than 1.7 billion pounds of Haas avocados to the United States, helping them surpass bananas as America’s most valuable fruit import,” reports The New York Times.

Popular Science reports it is possible to die by eating too many healthy avocados, but it would be hard work.

“This fatty fruit contains almost twice as much po­tas­sium as a banana. When too much of the metal hits the bloodstream, it interrupts the heart’s rhythmic beating, causing it to slow—or even stop,” writes Lexi Krupp. For the average man, that’s 240 avocados. For the average woman, it would take 200 avocados. Applying Krupp’s calculation to the average recipe, that’s about 140 cups of guacamole in one sitting.

If death by (healthy) avocado seems implausible, consider the Smithsonian’s findings that “our global obsession with guacamole and avocado toast has helped spawn record avocado pricesfinancial woes for millennials and even an uptick in avocado-related crime.”


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