This evening, in the wake of a massive Salmonella Montevideo outbreak which has sickened 184 persons in 38 states, Daniele, Inc. sent an open letter to consumers who had purchased salmonella-tainted sausage products.  The company has recalled over 1,240,000 pounds of sausage products in the wake of an investigation potentially linking those products to the salmonella outbreak.  Below is the letter:

Dear Valued Customers:

I want to let you know that Daniele, Inc. has voluntarily recalled all of our pepper-coated salame products because of reports that eleven people who ate “Daniele Italian Brand Gourmet Pack” recently became ill.  State and federal health officials have been unable to confirm a direct link between these illnesses and any Daniele product, but a sample did test positive for salmonella bacteria.  Just to be safe, and in full cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and our retail partners, we are removing up to one 1.2 million pounds of our product from store shelves across the country.  A complete list of products being recalled can be found at http://www.DanieleFoods.com/recall.   As you know, as part of our rigorous food safety program, Daniele routinely tests every lot of our products for pathogens. In addition, the USDA conducts independent tests of our products every month.

We are continuing to work with state and federal officials to find out what happened in this case, and we will provide you with further updates as soon as more information is available.
Consumers can return any pepper coated Daniele, Inc. product a full reimbursement.

When my grandfather founded this company in 1945 he built his business on quality products.  Just as you had his commitment then, you have my commitment now that Daniele will continue to work as hard as it can to strengthen our already strict standards for taste, quality and customer satisfaction. Please feel free to contact us at 888-345-4160 if you have any questions and please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this recall may cause.

Best,

Davide Dukcevich, President of Sales Danielle I

I wonder if Daniele, inc. will step up and pay for the medical bills and lost wages of those who became ill from eating tainted sausage?  What do you think?