A California food manufacturer is recalling thousands of boxes of salad dressings distributed to major retailers for possible contamination by “foreign objects.”
Irvine-based Ventura Foods recalled 3,556 boxes of the dressing that could be contaminated by “black plastic planting material” in the granulated onion used, according to an alert issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ventura Foods voluntarily initiated a recall of the product, which was sold at Costco, Publix and several other retailers in 27 states, according to the FDA.
None of the 42 locations where the product was sold was in California.
Ventura Foods said it issued the recall after one of its ingredient suppliers recalled a batch of onion granules that the company had used in some of its dressings.
“Upon receiving notification of the supplier's recall, we acted urgently to remove all potentially affected products from the market. This includes urging our customers, their distributors and retailers to review their inventory, separate and stop the sale and distribution of any products subject to the recall,” company spokesperson Eniko Bolivar-Murphy said in an emailed statement. “The safety of our products is and will always be our top priority.”
The FDA issued its initial recall alert in early November. Costco also alerted customers at the time, noting that customers could return products to stores for a full refund. The affected products had expiration dates between October 17 and November 9.
The company recalled the following types of salad dressings:
- Creamy Poblano Avocado Ranch Dressing and Sauce
- Ventura Caesar Dressing
- Pepper Mill Regal Caesar Dressing
- Creamy Pepper Mill Caesar Dressing
- Caesar dressing served at Costco Service Deli
- Caesar dressing served at Costco Food Court
- Hidden Valley, Buttermilk Ranch
