My darling.
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About days ago, the CDC and FDA advised us to chuck our onions. Yes, all onions, they said; the red, the yellow, the white – all onions should go, for fear of a multistate salmonella outbreak. That was bad enough, but now? Now a new host of relatively stable products with hot weather has come under attack. On Wednesday, the FDA announced a voluntary recall of red potatoes – as in the type most commonly used in potato salad, a delicious summer turnip – lemons, limes, and oranges. The citrus fruits are apparently compromised, and in the hottest streak of summer, no less.
Or, well, some of the citrus fruits: The FDA announced on August 9 that Wegmans Valencia oranges; Wegmans lemons and Freshhouse lemons; Freshouse limes; Nature Promise organic limes; and fresh from the start ‘Red B’ potatoes, all sold by Freshouse II, LLC of Salisbury, North Carolina, were potentially infected with listeria. More information about the products and lot numbers can be found here.
CNN reports that the repurchased products have been shipped to distributors in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. No diseases have been reported yet, and the company says it is re-initiating from an “abundance of caution” to identifying the bacteria on a piece of equipment for packaging facilities. However, consumers are advised to “destroy” any suspicious products in their refrigerators, to ensure that no one accidentally eats them. Listeria infection can cause diarrhea, nausea, fever, chills, and muscle aches, among other unfavorable symptoms, and is especially risky for people who are pregnant or have weakened immune systems.
However, if you also think that a freakishely high level of citrus consumption is the only thing that stood between you and scurvy in this pandemic, and if you also just seltzer a lime wedge in a heavy ice glass, well On, I will not suggest that this is not a battle. Take my onions, and whatever, take my potatoes too. But please, not my citrus fruits. They have so much left to give.
