Why Costco and Trader Joe’s stopped selling your favorite food items.
We know because a number of customers had their items stolen at the last two stores to discuss the incident. Some of you had comments that your favorite foods had been removed from their shelves without explanation.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service has sent a letter to Trader Joe’s and Costco, saying that they violated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) code of standards for food safety by failing to properly monitor meat recalls and their customers should not have to suffer monetary losses.
The letter follows the recent FDA announcement that Costco and Trader Joe’s had been cited after testing found no evidence of E. coli, norovirus, salmonella and listeria.
It was reported in February that six people had developed kidney failure after consumption of meat tainted with the pathogens, leading to an FDA recall of all ground beef from the company’s stores as well as meat and poultry at Costco locations in California and Texas. At the time, five of the sick shoppers were from California, and one was from New York.
In a statement, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokeswoman Joellen Rondelet said the agency does “not tolerate the loss of life that occurs when consumers are exposed to tainted meat.”
Trader Joe’s and Costco said they are working to resolve the issues with the F.D.A. and are cooperating with the agency.
Here are the details of the latest food tragedy:
Affected Foods
This list includes only foods that were confirmed to be contaminated with potentially harmful pathogens. Any products that were found to be safe were not included.
1. Fresh tomatoes
2. Corn
3. Fresh cut flowers
4. Cheese
5. Fresh cut green beans
6. Salisbury steak
7. Pork tenderloin
8. Chicken thighs
9. Turkey thighs
10. Chicken breasts
11. Fresh shrimp
