A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East (CNN) — California-grown avocados sold in bulk to retail stores in six states by the Henry Avocado Corporation are being recalled due to potential contamination with the bacterium listeria monocytogenes, the company announced on Saturday. “Henry Avocado is issuing this voluntary recall out of an abundance of caution due to positive test results on environmental samples taken during a routine government inspection at its California packing facility,” reads the company’s statement. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the recall at this time. The recalled products included California-grown conventional and organic avocados. They were packed at Henry Avocado Corporation’s facility in California and distributed to six states: Arizona, California, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Henry Avocado, a family-owned and managed company, started packing in this facility in late January 2019 and every shipment is subject to the recall. Listeria bacteria is especially concerning in pregnant women because they can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery or a life-threatening infection in a newborn. Others at risk for listeria infection are the elderly and individuals with weakened immune systems. Symptoms of listeriosis include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion and loss of balance. Patients may experience diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, as well as convulsions. It can be treated with antibiotics. Henry Avocado said it is contacting its retail customers to confirm the recalled products have been pulled from the shelves. The company advises consumers to check the stickers on their avocados. The recalled products have “Bravocado” stickers. Henry Avocado organic products do not carry the “Bravocado” label on the sticker. Instead, those products are labeled “organic” and include “California” on the sticker. If this is the case, retailers can identify Henry Avocado organic products by the bar code on the stickers. Henry Avocado urges consumers to discard or return the products to the place they were purchased for a refund. “We are voluntarily recalling our products and taking every action possible to ensure the safety of consumers who eat our avocados,” Phil Henry, president of Henry Avocado, said in a statement. The company said it is fully cooperating with federal and California health officials to facilitate an efficient and complete recall of these avocados. Avocados imported from Mexico and distributed by Henry Avocado are not subject to the recall and may continue to be sold and consumed.<doc-sep>A California avocado company is voluntarily recalling shipments that were sent to six states after officials said the fruit might be contaminated with a bacterium that can cause health risks. The recalled California-grown avocados were packed at a facility in California and distributed in that state, Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Wisconsin, the company, Henry Avocado Corporation, said in a statement on Saturday. It was not immediately clear how many avocados were affected, but the company said that all shipments from its packing facility were subject to the recall. In an article posted on the company’s website about its move into the facility last year, officials said it would give them the ability to ripen more than two million cartons of avocados each year. From November 2017 to October 2018, the last period for which data is available, 338 million pounds of California avocados were harvested in the state, according to the California Avocado Commission.<doc-sep>
Before you do your weekly grocery run, take note: A voluntary avocado recall has been issued due to concerns over potential listeria contamination. Henry Avocado Corporation issued a voluntary recall of whole avocados over the weekend after a routine government inspection tested positive for listeria bacteria at one of its packing facilities. It's bad news for avocado lovers, but before you freak out, there's no evidence of a listeria outbreak yet—so far, no cases have been reported, according to the company. Still, it pays to be cautious. The avocado recall so far includes avocados (both organic and regular) that have been shipped to six states: Arizona, California, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. (Avocados from Mexico that were packed by Henry Avocado are reportedly OK to eat, according to CNN.) Listeria monocytogenes can be a dangerous bacteria—especially for pregnant women. Like most of the bacteria that cause food poisoning, listeria typically causes fever and diarrhea, but for pregnant women a listeria infection can manifest more like the flu, with muscle aches and fatigue occurring on top of the fever and digestive distress, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An infection during pregnancy can have really serious consequences: miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or possibly a serious infection for newborns. Luckily, cases of listeriosis aren't super common. The CDC reports an estimated 1,600 cases each year, resulting in 260 annual deaths. So what should you do? CNN reports that Henry Avocado is contacting retailers directly to make sure the at-risk avocados are being pulled from shelves. But you should also inspect the avocados you have at home. The recalled avocados come from California and may have a "Bravocado" sticker. The company cautions that these stickers are not on the organic avocados that came from the facility—those simply have "organic" and "California" on the sticker. If you have either of these avocados at home, err on the side of caution and throw them out or bring them back to the store for a refund ASAP.