Georgia Ag routine sampling leads to FDA Import Alert

The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) food labs have confirmed Listeria monocytogenes in a chicken salad kit shipped from Canada and used in Publix stores, Commissioner Tommy Irvin said today.

“Publix has been very cooperative and voluntarily pulled all of the product and these kits from all of their stores as soon as our lab confirmed the presence of Listeria in the salad and before further sampling determined the source,” Irvin said.

GDA notified the Food and Drug Administration of the confirmed positive for Listeria monocytogenes in the kit and FDA issued an Import Bulletin on the kits from Tiffany Gate Foods, Toronto, Canada.

No illnesses associated with the salad have been reported.

GDA Consumer Protection Division inspectors first pulled samples of the chicken salad made with the Country Club Salad kits and Publix’s rotisserie chicken as part of the routine target sampling protocol.  As part of the procedure, the GDA food labs then did follow-up testing on the salad.  The labs then performed separate tests on the individual kit ingredients and the rotisserie chicken.

“Our inspectors will continue to verify that all of the salad and kits have been pulled from all stores that may have been using the kit,” Irvin said.

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