Bagged spinach is recalled

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A California produce company recalled bagged fresh spinach Wednesday after it tested positive for salmonella.

The spinach, shipped to the continental U.S. and Canada, was distributed under the Metz Fresh label in both retail and food-service packages.

There have been no reports of illness or problems related to the spinach, said Mike Herndon, spokesman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But consumers are advised to discard the product or return it to the place of purchase for a refund.

Salmonella, a common food-borne pathogen, can be life-threatening to young children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

The recall occurred after a single sample from one of three packing lines tested positive for salmonella, said company spokesman Greg Larsen. Through its labeling and numbering system, the King City, Calif.-based Metz Fresh had tracked, located and put holds on the vast majority of the cartons of affected spinach. That spinach will not be released into the marketplace.

"As soon as we learned of the presumptive positive test, we directed all customers to hold all boxes of the spinach affected as a precaution," Andrew Cumming, president of Metz Fresh, said in a statement. The recall covers 10- and 16-ounce bags, as well as 4-pound cartons and cartons that contain four 2.5-pound bags, with the following tracking codes: 12208114, 12208214 and 12208314.

In Utah, neither Associated Foods, which represents Harmon's, Dan's and Macey's, nor Wal-Mart carry the product, said spokespeople for the grocery chains. Smith's Food & Drug and Albertsons did not return telephone calls.

The recall comes nearly a year after an outbreak of another pathogen, E. coli, in fresh spinach that killed three people -including an Idaho toddler who died at a Salt Lake City hospital - and sickened another 205.