A salmonella outbreak sickens dozens, prompting a cucumber recall. Here's what to do

The Food and Drug Administration is recalling cucumbers across the country over a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than two dozen people in multiple states.

On Monday, the FDA announced a recall for cucumbers grown by South Florida-based Bedner Growers between April 29 and May 19.

The FDA says Fresh Start Produce Sales distributed them to retailers, distribution centers, wholesalers and food service distributors nationwide, making people sick from California to Kansas to New York — and it is unclear exactly where else they may have ended up.

"Cucumbers may have been sold individually or in smaller packages, with or without a label that may not bear the same brand, product name, or best by date," the agency said.

The cucumbers in question have been linked to what the FDA calls a "multistate outbreak" of Salmonella Montevideo, a bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract.

As of Tuesday, the cucumbers have made 26 people sick, nine of whom required hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The cases are spread out across 15 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

The agency says investigators conducting a follow-up inspection in April collected an environmental sample from Bedner Growers that was positive for the disease and matched recent clinical samples from people who got sick.

"FDA's traceback investigation has identified Bedner Growers Inc. as the common grower of cucumbers in this current outbreak," it said.

Acknowledging that salmonella is a "serious health concern," Bedner Growers said in a statement that it is initiating the recall "in an abundance of caution, and out of deep respect for the public health."

Symptoms of salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps and vomiting. They usually start 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food and can last four to seven days.

While many people typically recover on their own within a few days, diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration that requires medical attention.

The FDA says anyone who has symptoms of a salmonella infection, especially after eating cucumbers, should report them — and seek care — from their medical provider.

What should shoppers do?

The FDA and CDC are working with state and local authorities to investigate the outbreak. They warn that people with cucumbers already in their fridge should err on the side of caution.

"If you cannot tell if your cucumber was grown by Bedner Growers, throw it away," the FDA says. "When eating out over the next week, ask if cucumbers were from Bedner Growers or Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc."

Consumers, restaurants and retailers who have already handled potentially contaminated cucumbers should carefully sanitize any surfaces or containers that they may have touched.

The FDA instructs restaurants, retailers and distributors that may have purchased the cucumbers between April 29 and May 19 to notify their customers about the potential health concerns and sanitize any areas — including bulk bins — that the vegetables touched.

In general, the CDC recommends following several food safety tips to try to prevent food poisoning.

It advises people to wash their hands, utensils and surfaces often; rinse fruits and vegetables under running water before eating or peeling them; keep food that won't be cooked separate from raw meat and poultry; and refrigerate perishable food within two hours — or one hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It says food should be thawed in refrigerators, not on countertops.

Food scientists told NPR that when washing produce, it is not necessary — and could even be counterproductive — to use soap or let it soak in a bowl of water. Peeling produce might reduce the risk of consuming bacteria, but is not a guarantee.

Where might the cucumbers be?

According to the FDA's outbreak map, the states with the most illness reports are Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida, home of Bedner Growers.

The FDA says some of the affected cucumbers were previously available for sale at Bedner's Farm Fresh Market's three Florida locations; Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach.

A spokesperson for Bedner Growers told NPR on Wednesday that the farmers markets have "already recalled and eliminated all possibly contaminated cucumbers."

"The current products you'll find today at the markets are completely unaffected by this recall," the company added.

The FDA says it is aware that the contaminated cucumbers are available "at both restaurant and retail locations," and is still working to trace them.

Fresh Start Produce Sales told NPR in an email that it "has notified all its affected wholesale and regional distribution center customers and asked them to provide their customers with recall instructions, including immediately notifying any consumer point-of-purchase locations such as retail stores and restaurants."

The FDA says the products purchased by distributors, restaurants, and retailers were labeled either as supers, selects or plains.

How unusual is this outbreak?

The CDC estimates that salmonella causes about 1.35 million infections in the U.S. each year, mostly through contaminated food.

Salmonella infection is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness, and of hospitalizations and deaths linked to foodborne illness. The CDC says it is more common in the summer, with warmer temperatures and unrefrigerated food.

Raw meat, seafood and poultry — particularly chicken — are a common culprit, as are raw or undercooked eggs. But fresh produce can also cause infections, for example, if they are washed during processing with water contaminated with salmonella.

Cucumbers specifically have been the subject of several major salmonella recalls in recent years. A June 2024 outbreak sickened 551 people across 34 states and Washington, D.C., and the CDC recalled Mexican cucumbers in November after 68 people got sick.

In fact, the FDA eventually determined that Bedner Growers was one of several likely sources of that summer outbreak — which is why it was collecting follow-up samples from the company last month.

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