Health Warning On Pistachios

As a pleasant and healthy snack, pistachios are very popular – perhaps more in the USA than in the UK but they are to be found in many a store cupboard. There is now a current and serious health warning after pistachios were found to be at risk for ongoing potential for salmonella contamination at a US manufacturing plant in California. They had previously recalled two million pounds of pistachios after a previous alert, but the FDA has now stepped in and they have now recalled their entire 2008 crop of roasted pistachio nuts. There have been no reported deaths or serious illnesses so far, but the FDA has advised consumers as a precautionary measure not to eat pistachios until the suspect nuts can be tracked down in the food chain. This is a lengthy job as they are not only sold whole but also to various manufactures to be included in their products such as trail mix and manufactured desserts.

The main imports into the UK come from America, so if you have bought some recently and want to check if they have been cleared then there is a website at www.PistachioRecall.org which has a database of pistachio nuts and pistachio products that are not affected by the recall and are presumed safe.