Dole Listeria Outbreak Now a Criminal Investigation

What did Dole know about Listeria at its Ohio salad plant, when did Dole know and how long did the company wait before taking action? Those questions and more are the focus of a U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation into one of the world's biggest food producers.

Word of the federal investigation went public on Friday. Thirty-three people in the United States and Canada were sickened by the Listeria outbreak and hospitalized. Four of them died. Dole issued a statement saying the company is cooperating with federal investigators.

The company, headquartered in Westlake Village, California, posted a news release on its website Friday evening.

At Dole, the safety of the foods we provide to our consumers, and the safety of our employees, are part of the fabric of our company. That’s why we’re concerned about the recent stories in some publications about the FDA’s observation reports.

Those FDA reports deal with issues at our plant that we have corrected. We have been working in collaboration with the FDA and other authorities to implement ongoing improved testing, sanitation and procedure enhancements, which have resulted in the recent reopening of our Springfield salad plant.

We understand that these recent news reports may raise questions among our consumers and customers. They should be assured, however, that we have worked in conjunction with the FDA to address those observations and ensure that Dole products are safe.

Food Safety News on Friday published detailed information contained the Food and Drug Administration inspection reports of Dole's Springfield, Ohio, salad operation where the Listeria monocytogenes were discovered. Food Safety News reports that Dole knew about the deadly contamination a year and a half before shutting down the operation.

Who, specifically, knew? Dole’s vice president for quality assurance and food safety and Dole's quality assurance manager, according to Food Safety News, citing FDA reports.

Inspection reports (483) obtained by Food Safety News revealed the timeline of positive Listeria results and inaction. Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. finally suspended production at its salad plant in Springfield, OH, on Jan. 21 this year after a random test by state officials showed a bagged salad contained Listeria monocytogenes. ...

Dole restarted production at the plant in Springfield, OH, on April 21. Company officials won’t say what was done to clean the plant or how they plan to prevent future contamination there.

Inspectors from FDA checked the production plant three times in January and twice in February after genetic fingerprinting showed the undeniable link between the sick people and salads from the facility. They collected swab samples, unfinished product samples, testing records and other documents and information.

Dole's own testing in July 2014 at the Springfield plant showed evidence of Listeria, according to the FDA reports obtained by Food Safety News via a Freedom of Information Act request, but the company kept shipping bags of salads across North America. Repeated testing in 2014 and 2015 continued to show Listeria contamination, Food Safety News reports, but Dole didn't stop operations at the plant until Jan. 21, 2016.

The plant re-opened this month.

Affected brands include Dole, Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar and President’s Choice.

The four people who died after eating contaminated salads lived in Michigan and New York.

Dole faces lawsuits over the illnesses and deaths.

“If the government inspectors hadn’t showed up, who knows when or if they were going to tell anyone," Bill Marler, an attorney representing one victim of the Dole salad contamination who fell into a coma, told the New York Times.

Listeria bacteria causes listeriosis, which inflicts various gastrointestinal symptoms on infected people, as well as fever and convulsions.

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