Costco Points to Vegetable Mix as Possible Source of Bacterial Infections
November 25 2015 - 4:50PM
Dow Jones News
Costco Wholesale Corp. said federal investigators are examining
whether the celery and onion mix used in the retailer's rotisserie
chicken salad was the source of an E. coli outbreak that infected
19 people.
Costco vice president responsible for food safety Craig Wilson
said there is no problem with the retailer's rotisserie chickens
which it continues to sell. No further infections have been
reported, Mr. Wilson said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said five people
had been hospitalized and two developed hemolytic uremic syndrome,
a type of kidney failure. Costco's Mr. Wilson said all of the
hospitalized people have been discharged. The majority of the
infections were in the western U.S., the CDC said.
The retailer removed the chicken salad from its shelves after
the CDC notified the company of the issue on Friday.
Another recent E. coli outbreak, linked to Chipotle Mexican
Grill Inc., widened from the Pacific Northwest to other states, the
CDC said Friday. The CDC said 45 people have become ill from the E.
coli strain linked to Chipotle. Chipotle said it has conducted deep
cleaning at the restaurants that have been linked to the incident,
replaced ingredients in those restaurants and changed
food-preparation procedures.
The Costco product being investigated is labeled "Chicken Salad
made with Rotisserie Chicken" with item number 37719.
Costco, the second-largest U.S. retailer behind Wal-Mart Stores
Inc., said on Nov. 4 that sales at established stores fell 1% in
October, as total sales rose 1% to $8.78 billion. Costco operates
690 warehouses, including 482 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2015 16:35 ET (21:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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