Dead Bat Found In Prepackaged Salad Prompts Massive Recall

Prepackaged salads may be convenient, but be sure to wash your vegetables carefully — convenience comes with a risk. Fresh Express, a national distributor of fresh, prepackaged salads, issued a recall after two people found a dead bat inside a package of organic spring mix salad at a Walmart in Florida.

Fresh Express has issued an immediate recall for the Organic Marketside Spring Mix, with a production code of G089B19 and a best-if-used-by date of April 14. Any customers who have bought this product are strongly encouraged to discard it. The CDC is also encouraging anyone who found animal byproducts inside a salad to report the product to local health authorities. Fresh Express confirmed that the product was only distributed to Walmart stores in the southeastern United States.

"Fresh Express takes matters of food safety very seriously and rigorously complies with all food safety regulations including the proscribed Good Agricultural Practices," the company's statement read. "In addition, a range of stringent controls are in place during growing and harvesting to mitigate against field material from entering the raw product system. In manufacturing, additional controls including thorough washing and filtration systems as well as visual inspections that are designed to eliminate unwanted debris. [sic]"

The CDC is working with the Florida Health Department to determine the cause of the unwanted winged mammal "debris."

"Both people report being in good health and neither has any signs of rabies," the CDC said in a statement.