Green beans and squash recalled: Walmart stores draw Marketside green beans, butternut squash on a possible listeria

A Florida company is voluntarily recalling some Marketside bags of green beans and muskegels sold at retailers in several states – including some Walmart stores – because of possible contamination by Listeria monocytogenes. The dangerous bacterium can cause serious and sometimes fatal diseases in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Southern Specialties Inc., of Pompano Beach, Florida, indicates that the items concerned may have been shipped to selected stores in nine states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Carolina North, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Walmart indicates that the products on its website have been sold in selected stores.

To date, no disease has been reported.

In otherwise healthy people, listeriosis cases are usually mild and may include short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. However, in some cases, the infection can lead to life-threatening complications, such as meningitis and an infection in the blood. It is also dangerous for pregnant women because listeria can cause miscarriages and stillbirths.

Southern Specialties indicates that the recall was issued after a raw material supplier informed the company that a routine test of a food contact surface had revealed the presence of listeria.

The FDA has provided the following information to help consumers determine if they have purchased an affected product. Officials urge anyone who has purchased a recalled item not to consume it and to dispose of it or return it to the store for a refund.