Fruit Recall Affects Walmart, Sam’s Club, Wegmans, Costco, Trader Joe’s Stores | WNEP.com

If you’ve picked up fruit at Walmart, Costco or Trader Joe’s stores recently, keep reading.

Wawona Packing Co. is voluntarily recalling peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots that were packed at its Cutler, California, warehouses between June 1 and July 12. Wawona believes the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Costco, Trader Joe’s, and the Walmart Corp. — which operates Walmart and Sam’s Club stores, have all posted notices about the fruit recall on their websites. The recall is nationwide, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Internal testing at Wawona revealed the potential Listeria contamination, the FDA says. The facility was shut down and sanitized; subsequent tests have been negative for the food-borne illness.

“We are aware of no illnesses related to the consumption of these products,” Wawona President Brent Smittcamp said in a statement. “By taking the precautionary step of recalling product, we will minimize even the slightest risk to public health, and that is our priority.”

Trader Joe’s has urged customers not to eat any of these stone fruits — meaning fruits with large pits — and to return them to a nearby store for a full refund.

In addition, Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. has recalled several of its baked goods that contain fruit from Wawona Packing Co. This includes cakes, pies, tarts and other pastries.

Fruit Recall Affects Walmart, Sam’s Club, Wegmans, Costco, Trader Joe’s Stores | WNEP.com

Hummus, other dips sold at Target and Trader Joe's recalled for listeria risk - Los Angeles Times

Nearly 15,000 pounds of hummus and other dips sold at Trader Joe's and Target were recalled Friday over concerns of listeria contamination.

Massachusetts-based Hot Mama's Foods voluntarily recalled the dips after the potential for contamination was found during a routine test of Target Archer Farms Traditional Hummus by the Texas Department of Health, the company said in a statement.

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Some of the affected products were shipped nationally and include 10-ounce and 2-pound containers of Target Archer Farms Traditional Hummus marked for use by June 11, and 8-ounce containers of Trader Joe's Edamame Hummus with April 28, April 29 and May 14 use-by dates. A full list of recalled products can be found on the Hot Mama's Foods website.



Hummus, other dips sold at Target and Trader Joe's recalled for listeria risk - Los Angeles Times

Is Target right to send its part-timers to Obamacare? Probably. - latimes.com

Not exactly. As Trader Joe's did in September when it took a similar step, Target is suggesting that most of the affected workers will do better under the exchange system than they were with company-sponsored insurance. Target is probably right.

We say "probably" because the Minneapolis retail giant refused our request for data that would help nail down the pluses and minuses. We asked for the average wage of part-time employees affected by the change in policy; the number of part-timers; their average hours per week; and the benefits and premiums they were eligible for up to now. (The new policy takes effect April 1.) Target said none of that information is public.

Target also said workers averaging more than 32 hours a week would remain eligible for its company-sponsored health plan. That's curious, because the ACA requires big employers to provide coverage for full-time employees, who are defined as those working 30 hours a week or more. Target refused to clarify the discrepancy, though it's proper to note that the employer mandate doesn't kick in until next year.

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What's happening under the surface, of course, is that these companies are shifting some of their own employee benefit costs to the taxpayers, who are providing the applicable subsidies.

But that's not a bug in the Affordable Care Act; it's a feature. Its goal was to get more people covered, in part by spreading the cost society-wide. And that's what's likely to happen. The cost of employee healthcare for part-time workers was on the long road to unaffordability long before enactment of the law.

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The missing piece of the puzzle, still, is what the companies do with the money they save. If they use at least some of it to pay their workers better, that's a net gain for everyone. If they merely shovel it out to top management and shareholders, then they've gotten something for nothing, and acted shamefully.

Is Target right to send its part-timers to Obamacare? Probably. - latimes.com