Why Vegan Just Egg Chopped Spring Greens Are Being Recalled

Food recalls typically fall into three broad categories, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, meaning the root cause is invariably either allergens, pathogens, or foreign material. Undeclared dairy or peanuts are examples of the former, small pieces of metal being found in food containers an example of the latter. The third category, pathogens, refers to the potential contamination of food items with harmful bacteria like salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. This is the most far-reaching category, notes Food Safety Tech, because these contaminants can affect all consumers of a given product, not just those with relevant allergies, or those who were unlucky enough to purchase the rare food package containing foreign material.

The recall of Just Egg Chopped Spring Greens from select retail stores in five states, announced this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), falls into the pathogen category, in that the stated reason for recall was potential contamination by listeria monocytogenes. Per the FDA, only 21 packages from the three lots of the product had been sold prior to their voluntary recall, and no adverse reactions have been reported. Even more encouraging is the fact that all three recalled lots of the vegan plant-based egg product tested negative for listeria before being shipped to retail locations. They were recalled out of caution after a lot from another product with some of the same ingredients — a lot never sold in stores — tested positive.