If You Buy Vidalia Onions, The FDA Might Have Bad News For You
It's never good news when you hear that any food or beverage that you like to buy and consume has been recalled, but with anywhere from around 30 to 130 food recalls per year since 2018, according to NPR, there may be little choice but to accept that recalls happen. It's best to just stay on top of them, breathing a sigh of relief whenever a recall doesn't affect you directly. That's what we're hoping this particular exercise in food recall vigilance — this one, concerning Vidalia onions — will net.
Vidalia onions are one specific type of onion, according to the Vidalia Onion Grower's Association. Slightly flat in shape and known for their sweet, mild flavor, Vidalia onions can only grow in the sandy loamy soil native to just 20 counties in Georgia, all of which boast mild weather conditions, per Vidalia's Finest. And since 1930, Vidalia onions been grown exclusively from seeds that are subject to strict legislative standards.
"While still grown with great care, you no longer need to travel to South Georgia each spring and summer to purchase this flavorful, sweet onion," VOGA notes. Anyone who purchased Vidalia onions in Florida, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania should be able to attest to that. Unfortunately, however, anyone who bought Vidalia onions in these states or Georgia between June 22 and June 24, 2022, is now looking at potentially tossing said onions if they're Little Bear brand. Here's what you need to know about the June 30 recall.
A Georgia grower of Vidalia onions has issued a circumscribed recall
On June 30, A&M Farms recalled Little Bear Vidalia onions sold by the pound on specified dates at specified grocery stores in six states mentioned above, per a company announcement (via USFDA). Internal company testing revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes on a "single pack line." A foodborne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes may cause serious, life-threatening illness in "pregnant women, newborns, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems."
This recall is quite circumscribed, however. If you purchased these onions in Massachusetts, this recall applies only to purchases made on either June 23 or June 24 at Wegmans in the Rochester area. If you purchased Little Bear brand Vidalia onions in Pennsylvania, this recall applies to you if you purchased said onions at either the Erie West and Erie Peach Street Wegmans stores in Pennsylvania on those dates. If you've shopped at Publix, this recall also applies to Vidalia onion purchased between June 22 and 24 at Florida Publix stores and Publix stores in the following Georgia counties: Barrow, Clarke, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Oconee and Walton counties. All affected Vidalia onions should bear a PLU sticker with the purchase location, 4159, specified.
If you have any of the recalled Vidalia onions in your possession, you're being asked by the company to dispose of them or return them, with receipt to the point of purchase, in exchange for a refund. Consumer questions are welcomed at 912-585-2058, Mondays through Fridays, 8 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT.