The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated a voluntary recall of alfredo sauce produced by Coffee Connexion Co. Inc. as a Class I event — its most serious risk category — after a dry milk powder ingredient used in the sauce was identified as potentially contaminated with salmonella, according to an FDA enforcement report.
The recall covers 913 cases of the sauce, each containing 12 sealed bags weighing more than 3 pounds, for distribution to dozens of states, though the FDA did not specify which ones in its report.
The FDA said the recall was initiated last month by Coffee Connexion, which is based in Lebanon, Tennessee. The agency designated the recall as Class I earlier this month, a classification used when there is a reasonable probability that exposure to the product could cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
The recall stems from a dry milk powder ingredient that may have been contaminated with salmonella, a bacterium that causes diarrheal illness. Symptoms of salmonellosis include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps, with severe cases more likely in young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals.
Coffee Connexion did not return a call seeking comment. The company’s voluntary action covered the entire production lot linked to the suspect ingredient, the FDA said. No illnesses had been reported in connection with the recall at the time of the enforcement report.