A nationwide recall of pistachio products from a California plant was significantly expanded Monday after federal and state health officials found salmonella bacteria in "critical areas" of the Setton Pistachio facility. Investigators didn't provide any more details.
The company announced it's now recalling all lots of roasted in-shell pistachios, roasted shelled pistachios and raw shelled pistachios produced from nuts harvested in 2008, the Washington Post reported.
Last week, Setton recalled about 2 million pounds, which represents just a small portion of the 2008 harvest. At the time, it was believed the pistachios may have been contaminated by a sanitation problem that affected only one or two production lines.
Setton is the second-largest pistachio processor in the United States and supplies about 35 wholesalers and food manufacturers that repackage the nuts for retail sale or use them as ingredients in other products, the Post reported. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it could take weeks before there's a complete list of affected products.
To help consumers, the pistachio industry created a Web site that lists products not affected by the recall. The Web site address is www.pistachiorecall.org.