OGDEN — Most of the Smith’s Food and Drug stores in the Top of Utah have had to dump their wrapped iceberg lettuce because of a possible salmonella contamination.
Six of the eight Smith’s in Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties voluntarily dumped their Growers Express brand iceberg lettuce after being notified by a supplier Thursday afternoon of possible contamination.
The Smith’s stores in North Ogden and Farmington did not have to dump their supply because their lettuce comes from different growers.
“We just pulled everything that we had,” said Kyler Monson, a produce clerk who was working at the Sunset store on Thursday when the recall notification came in about 3 p.m. “For my store, we had to throw away eight cases.”
Monson said that to the best of his knowledge, the removal was a precautionary measure and not because their particular products were definitely contaminated.
Growers Express is a produce supplier based in northern California.
Most people who are infected with salmonella get diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The sickness usually lasts four to seven days, and while most people recover without treatment, some suffer severe diarrhea and need to be hospitalized.
In such severe cases, the infection can spread to the bloodstream and cause death unless the sick person is promptly treated with antibiotics.
The elderly, infants and people with impaired immune systems are the ones most likely to have the severe symptom, according to the CDC.
Employees from several Smith’s recommended that customers err on the side of caution and return lettuce they bought at the store. Customers who bought lettuce from Smith’s can return it for a refund and the store will dispose of the product.
Smith’s stores are expecting new shipments of safe lettuce by today.
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