Fresh Express voluntarily recalls salad bowls over potential Listeria in chicken

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Fresh Express announced Saturday that they are issuing a voluntary recall on a number of Gourmet Café Chicken Caesar Salad Bowls due to their inclusion of recalled chicken products from BrucePac, which is an outside ingredient supplier.

The company said that the recall is linked to a possibility of Listeria contamination in their chicken, and while the poultry may be affected, the fresh vegetables inside the salad are not impacted by the recall.

Listeria can cause serious or fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people in addition to those with weak immune systems, according to Fresh Express. The company also says that healthy people might suffer short-term symptoms like a high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. It can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women, according to the company.

The salad bowls in question were in Texas, Washington, Louisiana and California.

Fresh Express is no longer using BrucePac's chicken ingredients and the impacted facility is still waiting for the USDA's inspection and approval to re-operate.

The company is telling people who have purchased the product to discard it and contact Fresh Express Consumer Response Center at 800.242.5472 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. or the place of purchase for a refund.