Totino’s/Jeno’s Resume Shipments of Pepperoni-topped Frozen Pizzas

Thorough investigations found no evidence of E. coli O157:H7 at the facility where the pizzas are produced.

11/26/2007

MINNEAPOLIS - Totino’s and Jeno’s resumed shipments of frozen pizzas with pepperoni toppings today (Nov. 26, 2007), completing the final step in returning all Totino’s and Jeno’s frozen pizza varieties to store shelves.

Totino’s and Jeno’s had temporarily stopped producing pizzas with pepperoni toppings following the Nov. 1 voluntary recall of 11 pizza SKUs (stock-keeping units) thought to have been associated with a possible outbreak of illnesses caused by E. coli O157:H7.  The company initiated the recall voluntarily as a precaution, in the interest of consumer safety, though no evidence of E. coli O157:H7 had been found in any Totino’s or Jeno’s product.

Thorough investigations both by the company and by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Inspection Service found no evidence of E. coli O157:H7 at the facility where the pizzas are produced, and no evidence of E. coli O157:H7 in any Totino’s or Jeno’s pizza product.

Additional measures were instituted nonetheless, including sourcing new supplies of pepperoni and adding stringent testing of all pepperoni toppings.

Consumers can easily identify the newly produced frozen pizza products by checking the “best if used by date” on the product package.  The new products all have “best if used by dates” of 02APR08 (April 2, 2008) or after (e.g., 03APR08, 04APR08, etc.).

For information about the recall, see the original recall press release dated Nov. 1, 2007.