More states report illnesses, hospitalizations in salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers

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Salmonella illnesses linked to cucumbers continue to increase, with additional cases and hospitalizations reported in more states – and another major retailer, Target has issued its own recall.
The initial recall of cucumbers grown by Florida-based Bedner Growers and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales linked the produce to a salmonella outbreak across 15 states. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on May 19 that 26 people had gotten ill and nine were hospitalized.
Health officials have now increased the number of illnesses reported to 45 in 18 states – Georgia, Indiana and Massachusetts are the latest states with cases – with hospitalizations due to salmonella poisoning up from nine to 16, according to the FDA and CDC.
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Eight people told health officials they had taken a cruise before becoming sick, according to the CDC. The passengers were aboard six different ships, all of which departed from Florida between March 30 and April 12 – three people were on the same ship, the agency said.
No deaths have been reported in the salmonella outbreak, the CDC says.
The initial voluntary recall involved cucumbers sold directly to consumers at Bednar's Farm Fresh Market. Subsequently, additional recalls have been announced by grocers such as Harris Teeter, Kroger and Walmart that repackaged whole cucumbers for sale or used them in ready-to-eat products such as vegetable trays and salads.
Target issued a recall for products purchased May 7 to May 21, the FDA said in its May 30 update. Those products included individual cucumbers, cucumber two-packs, and prepared foods such as Good & Gather Lemon Pepper Greek-Style Chicken Salad, Mai Spicy Salmon Rice Bowl with White Rice, and Mai California Roll with White Rice. The complete list of more than 40 recalled products with cucumbers is available on Target's product recall page.
Target was also among retailers recalling Hormel Foods' Dinty Moore Beef Stew because the product may contain fragments of "foreign material," specifically wood.
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The recalled cucumbers should no longer be on store shelves, health officials said. The CDC and FDA advises anyone with cucumbers at home to throw them away if they're unsure where they're from. Wash any surfaces and items that may have touched the cucumbers.
Bedner Growers was also linked to a salmonella outbreak involving cucumbers last year that sickened 551 people and hospitalized 155 across 34 states and the District of Columbia, according to the CDC.
Investigators found untreated canal water carrying the bacteria used by Bedner Growers, the CDC said. While Bedner Growers and Thomas Produce Company of Boca Raton, Florida, were the likely sources of the outbreak, the CDC said, the companies did not account for all the outbreak's illnesses.
Each year, salmonella causes about 1.35 million illnesses, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the U.S., according to the CDC and FDA.
Symptoms of salmonella infection – including diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps – usually arise six hours to six days after exposure and may last 4 to 7 days. Severe infections can also include aches, headaches, elevated fever, lethargy, rashes, and blood in the urine or stool.
As of May 30, the salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers has sickened 45 people in the following 18 states:
Alabama
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Michigan
North Carolina
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia
Contributing: Gabe Hauari and Mary Walrath-Holdridge.
Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & [e-mail]
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Target joins recall of cucumbers linked to salmonella outbreak