THE CANADIAN PRESS

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OTTAWA - A California company has issued a voluntary recall of its fresh cilantro distributed in the U.S. and parts of Western Canada because it could be contaminated with salmonella.

NewStar Fresh Foods says the cilantro was distributed in more than 20 U.S. states as well as in British Columbia, Manitoba and Alberta.

The company has contacted its foodservice clients to notify them of the recall of the cilantro, which is packaged in clear plastic bags under the brand names NewStar, Ready Set Serve, and Cross Valley Farms.

The bacteria was detected in a routine sampling program by the Michigan Department of Agriculture, but no illnesses have been reported.

Salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain, and can be serious and sometimes fatal for young children and people who are frail and elderly.

The salmonella identified in the cilantro is not the same as the Saintpaul strain now linked to peppers from Mexico that has sickened more than 1,300 people since April, including a few in Canada.

In connection with that outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is calling on consumers to avoid all raw serrano peppers and raw jalapenos from Mexico.

The cilantro was packaged in clear plastic bags that are just under half a kilogram in size. The product lot identification number for the affected cilantro is 11B056404, with best before dates of July 26 and 27 or a Julian code of 192 or 193.

In addition to the three Canadian provinces that received the cilantro, it was distributed in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Washington, New York, Oregon, Ohio, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, New Mexico, Alabama, California, Texas, Georgia, Utah, Mississippi, Arizona and Florida.

On this side of the border, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.