Snack time is about to get a lot less delicious: 16 types of Ritz Cracker products have been voluntarily recalled over possible contamination with salmonella bacteria, according to a statement from Mondelēz Global LLC.
The products affected by the recall—including several varieties of Ritz Bits cheese cracker sandwiches—all contain whey powder as an ingredient, which the statement explains was recalled by the supplier due to potential salmonella contamination. Although the company hasn't received any complaints of illnesses associated with the recalled products, it's still warning consumers to avoid eating of the recalled products and to discard any of the products they may have purchased as a precaution.
Salmonella symptoms may show up as quickly as 12 hours after you eat something contaminated, SELF reported previously.
According to the Mayo Clinic, those symptoms may include:
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal cramps
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Blood in your stool
Otherwise-healthy adults are usually able to recover from a salmonella infection within a week without any special treatment. But young children, elderly adults, and pregnant people may be at risk for more serious complications. Either way, if you think you may have salmonella infection in connection with the Ritz Cracker situation or any other recall, it's worth talking to your doctor to confirm the diagnosis and get more information.
And if it seems like more foods are being recalled over concerns like these than in the past, you're not imagining it. As SELF wrote previously, salmonella is a particularly wily bacteria that can contaminate many different types of food—not just the undercooked meat and raw produce we usually associate with foodborne illnesses.
So, other food safety measures—including safe storage and cooking protocols—are just as important as ever. That means keeping certain ingredients refrigerated until you're ready to use them, keeping raw produce separate from raw meat and poultry, and, yes, avoiding bringing recalled foods into your home in the first place.
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