Time To Panic: Del Monte Veggies Have Been Contaminated With Parasites

You might want to toss out that vegetable platter you bought to celebrate the season. Why? Well, it might be contaminated with parasites. Hopefully your opinion of veggies hasn’t tarnished after hearing that news.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that roughly 200 people contracted an illness linked to Del Monte vegetable trays, which are popular in grocery stores. The strange thing is that there’s a chance you might have already eaten yours — or at the very least, thrown it out. The products that have been identified as being potentially harmful expired back on June 17th and earlier. The bad trays included broccoli, carrots, celery, cauliflower, and dill dip.

When it came to contamination, size didn’t matter. The outbreak of Cyclospora, a parasite found in food items that have been exposed to feces, was said to have hit 6 oz, 12 oz, and 28 oz containers of the cut veggies. The states that were delivered these products include Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

A lot of people tried to contact Del Monte about the contamination, but the company made it clear that it was actually Del Monte Fresh who had the issue. According to them, the two companies aren’t affiliated with each other.

Thanks for asking. The vegetable trays in question are not manufactured or sold by our company. They are manufactured by @DelMonteFresh. Del Monte Foods is not affiliated with Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc., Del Monte International or their subsidiaries or affiliates.

— Del Monte (@DelMonte) July 10, 2018

Del Monte Fresh has yet to address the issue on Twitter, but there’s a good chance that people will have some questions.

Cyclospora directly causes cyclosporiasis, and those affected often take up to a week to show symptoms. Some of those symptoms include frequent, watery bowel movements, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, and vomiting. If you think you might have eaten contaminated veggies, make sure to see a health care provider as soon as possible. Thankfully, the sickness can be treated with antibiotics.