France Adds Another Recall of Frozen Chopped Parsley Over STEC E. coli, This Time Covering Three Lots

On September 28, RappelConso published the voluntary nationwide recall in France of three lots of frozen chopped parsley, in 250-gram bags, sold between July 7 and September 28 at the stores of a chain specializing in frozen products, over the possible presence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). The authority asked consumers not to eat or use the product, to return it to the point of sale and to contact customer service, with a refund for buyers.

The notice follows the recall that another frozen-food chain had published on September 24 for one lot of frozen flat-leaf parsley, which in turn came after a recall of frozen flat-leaf parsley over E. coli in Luxembourg at the beginning of the month. The notice reminds consumers that STEC can cause diarrhea that is sometimes bloody, abdominal pain and vomiting, with severe kidney complications in 5% to 8% of cases, especially in children, and that vegetables should be washed, peeled or cooked before being eaten.

The fact that frozen parsley recalls keep spanning several lots and two different chains is a typical pattern when the contamination is not due to a one-off incident but to a source that persisted over time, such as irrigation or wash water, the growing field or the cutting line. Frozen parsley is usually added at the end of preparation without sufficient cooking, and freezing preserves the bacterium without eliminating it.

For TAAG, this succession of recalls confirms that testing a single lot is not enough to close an investigation in frozen vegetables: when STEC appears, it is advisable to test the lots produced before and after the positive one, as well as the water and surfaces of the cutting line, because the true extent of the problem is only known when the entire production window is examined.