Pistachios taken off shelves

Supermarkets pulled pistachios and some pistachio-laden foods from shelves Tuesday, moves resulting from this week's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning to consumers not to eat the nuts because they could be tainted with salmonella.

The FDA is scrambling to prevent a repeat of a recent salmonella outbreak from peanuts that has sickened more than 690 people in 46 states.

Kroger supermarkets has recalled 10-ounce packages of pistachios sold in Washington and 30 other states over fears of possible salmonella contamination. The recall covers its Private Selection brand with sell-by dates of Dec. 13 and Dec. 14, 2009. They were sold in 17 Kroger-owned stores including Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer and QFC.

Earlier this week, Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, a nut packer in California's San Joaquin Valley, recalled 2 million pounds of pistachios because of potential salmonella contamination. The company's nuts tested positive during routine checks at a plant operated by Kraft Foods and other food manufacturers, according to the FDA.

Industry officials and Kraft said the contamination probably was a result of not segregating raw and roasted nuts during processing.

Like Peanut Corp. of America, the company blamed for the widespread outbreak from peanuts, Setton is a bulk provider of nuts to food manufacturers and wholesalers. That means the contaminated pistachios could have ended up in a variety of processed foods including ice cream, cookies, candies and trail mix.

California is the nation's No. 1 pistachio grower, producing 98 percent of the domestic crop. Globally, it trails only Iran in pistachio farming. About 60 percent of the crop is exported, making pistachios an important source of foreign currency for the state and the nation.

While the pistachios that Setton is recalling represent less than 1 percent of California's 278 million-pound crop, the FDA defended its blanket warning, even though it will likely be a blow to the state's $539 million pistachio industry.

"It is always an upset to the industry when we have to put consumer advice out like this, but ... we don't know where those pistachios have gone and we don't want to wait until we find out and then learn that people were getting sick," said David Acheson, FDA assistant commissioner for food safety.

Acheson said there are not yet any confirmed illnesses linked to the pistachios, but there were some consumer complaints of illness associated with the nut. However, routine checks yielded 10 positive salmonella tests, all of them linked to pistachios supplied by Setton, according to the FDA.

Food-pathogen scares in recent years involving tomatoes, peppers, spinach and lettuce have cost California farmers millions in lost sales. Salmonella is one of the most common causes of food-borne illness, with a documented 40,000 Americans contracting the disease annually, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.