Some River Ranch bagged salads deemed health risk

Certain products made by River Ranch Fresh Foods are under scrutiny "Routine sampling" detected Listeria contamination, the California Health Department saysThe company's products are distributed nationwide under various names

(CNN) -- Citing a potential health risk, the California Department of Public Health warned consumers Friday to not eat certain bagged salads manufactured by River Ranch Fresh Foods and sold under various names.

The company, based in Salinas, California, voluntarily recalled the salads "after routine sampling detected Listeria Monocytogenes in two packages of shredded iceberg lettuce purchased from retail locations in California and Colorado," the health department said in a news release.

No illnesses have been reported, it said.

The affected salads have been distributed to outlets across the country under the brand names River Ranch, Farm Stand, Hy-Vee, Marketside, Shurfresh, The Farmer's Market, Cross Valley, Fresh n Easy, Promark and Sysco, it said.

River Ranch is a wholly owned subsidiary of Taylor Farms, also of Salinas. Neither company responded to calls for comment.

A spokeswoman for the health department said it was not immediately clear how large the recall would ultimately be. "We're looking into that right now," Heather Bourbeau said.

The bacteria are commonly found in soil and water.

Symptoms of infection may include fever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, they may include a headache, a stiff neck, confusion, a loss of balance and convulsions.

Infants, the elderly and people with weak immune systems are at highest risk for severe illness and death. Among pregnant women, the bacteria can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth, premature delivery or infection of the newborn.

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Some bagged salads deemed health risk

Certain products made by River Ranch Fresh Foods are under scrutiny "Routine sampling" detected Listeria contamination, the California Health Department saysThe company's products are distributed nationwide under various names

(CNN) -- Citing a potential health risk, the California Department of Public Health warned consumers Friday to not eat certain bagged salads manufactured by River Ranch Fresh Foods and sold under various names.

The company, based in Salinas, California, voluntarily recalled the salads "after routine sampling detected Listeria Monocytogenes in two packages of shredded iceberg lettuce purchased from retail locations in California and Colorado," the health department said in a news release.

No illnesses have been reported, it said.

The affected salads have been distributed to outlets across the country under the brand names River Ranch, Farm Stand, Hy-Vee, Marketside, Shurfresh, The Farmer's Market, Cross Valley, Fresh n Easy, Promark and Sysco, it said.

River Ranch is a wholly owned subsidiary of Taylor Farms, also of Salinas. Neither company responded to calls for comment.

A spokeswoman for the health department said it was not immediately clear how large the recall would ultimately be. "We're looking into that right now," Heather Bourbeau said.

The bacteria are commonly found in soil and water.

Symptoms of infection may include fever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, they may include a headache, a stiff neck, confusion, a loss of balance and convulsions.

Infants, the elderly and people with weak immune systems are at highest risk for severe illness and death. Among pregnant women, the bacteria can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth, premature delivery or infection of the newborn.

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Health Insurance Rate Hikes in Nine States Deemed Excessive by HHS

Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 5:39 PM EDT - U.S. Markets closed

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Health Insurance 'Mandate' Deemed Best Value for Money

THURSDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Doing away with the U.S. health care reform act's requirement that all Americans must have health insurance would not dramatically increase the cost of buying policies through new insurance exchanges, but would significantly reduce the number of people who get insurance, according to researchers.

The findings from the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, are based on estimates created using a computer model. The investigators found that eliminating the so-called "individual mandate" would increase a person's cost of buying insurance by 2.4 percent and reduce the number of Americans who would get new health coverage in 2016 from 27 million to 15 million.

"Our analysis suggests eliminating the individual mandate would sharply decrease coverage, but it would not send premiums into a 'death spiral' that would make health insurance unaffordable to those who do not qualify for government subsidies," study lead author Christine Eibner, an economist at RAND, said in a news release from the organization.

The analysis also found that repealing the individual mandate would greatly increase the amount of government spending for each person newly enrolled in a health insurance plan. The cost would more than double, to $7,468 per person.

"The individual mandate is critical not only to achieving near-universal health care coverage among Americans, but also to yielding a high value in terms of federal spending to expand coverage," Eibner said. "Without the individual mandate, the government would have to spend more overall to insure a lot fewer people."

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in March about the constitutionality of requiring all Americans to obtain health insurance.

More information

The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality explains how to get good value when choosing a health plan.

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