From Slice Serious Eats

Uh oh! Put down your Farm Rich Mini Pizza Slices and Stuffed Crust Pizza Dippers! And any of these other products. They’re kind of gross (and you totally know it). Also, they may be contaminated with a rare, potentially lethal strain of E. coli.

NBC reports that a whopping 10 million pounds of Farm Rich and Market Day products have been recalled due to potential contamination. That’s a big jump from their initial product recall last week, which accounted for fewer than 200,000 lbs.

Luckily, ‘only’ 3 million of those pounds have actually hit marketplaces—the rest are tucked away at the warehouse, where they can fester away in peace and quiet. So far, there have been 24 reported cases related to Rich’s frozen snack products, spread across 15 states. Hopefully the recall will prevent any further incidences.

From Rich Products Corporation website:

Buffalo, New York, April 4, 2013 – Rich Products Corporation of Buffalo, New York, which previously announced a voluntary recall of certain Farm Rich® and Market Day® products is expanding its voluntary recall to include all products produced at its Waycross, Georgia plant with “Best By” dates ranging from January 1, 2013 to September 29, 2014 due to possible contamination with Escherichia coli O121 bacteria (“E. coli O121”).  The expanded recall is in addition to products recalled on March 28, 2013.

The CDC has reported 24 cases of E. coli 0121 in 15 states.  Symptoms of the illness include mild to severe diarrhea and abdominal cramps.  Blood is often seen in the stool.  Usually little or no fever is present.  Although most healthy adults can recover completely within 5-10 days, certain individuals can develop a complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) which can cause the kidneys to fail. HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly.  The condition could lead to serious kidney damage and even death.

While Rich Products is unaware of any illnesses associated with the products included in the expanded recall, its unwavering safety commitment to its customers caused it to take this action.

“When it became apparent to us that, despite the expertise of the USDA, the FDA, the scientific community and our own experts, identification of a specific cause was not going to be a simple or short process, we decided to act proactively to expand the recall,” said Bill Gisel, Rich’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Gisel added that Rich’s will continue to cooperate fully with federal, state and local agencies investigating this situation.

Specific product information is as attachment

The products were distributed nationwide to Retail Stores and select Foodservice Distribution Customers.

Rich’s has already notified all of its distributors and customers who have received the product in question, and has directed them to remove and destroy the affected product. All other affected product under Rich’s control has been quarantined and will be destroyed.  Rich’s has previously filed with the Reportable Food Registry, ICSR #1029392.  A new Reportable Food Registry filing has been made, ICSR # 1029453 and is linked to the original report.

Customers who have purchased these products and have any questions should contact Consumer Relations at 1-888-220-5955 24 hours, 7-days per week, or visit our website at farmrich.com.

*Note to editors:  The products in this recall only pertain to the Waycross, Ga. Facility. This recall does NOT include the following Farm Rich products: Mozzarella Sticks, Jalapeño Peppers, Marinara Stuffed Mozzarella Sticks, Mushrooms, Stuffed Pretzel Bites, Queso Cheese Bites, Pepper Bites, Onion Rings and all varieties of Meatballs and French Toast Sticks (These products are manufactured in different facilities that are not affected by the recall).