--- title: Salmonella Outbreak Linked to ARO Pistachios date: 2014-01-23T02:31:00-08:00 canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/news_events/salmonella-outbreak-linked-to-aro-pistachios" section: News --- [All News](/news_events) / # Salmonella Outbreak Linked to ARO Pistachios *Year old [Salmonella](http://www.about-salmonella.com) outbreak announcement slipped into [FDA Warning Letter](http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm381450.htm)* According to a recently released FDA Warning Letter, in early 2013 ARO was associated with three Reportable Food Registry (RFR) reports that detailed positive Salmonella findings detected in two shipments of raw pistachios. In addition, according to the letter, a cluster of salmonellosis infections reported from January through May 2013, were investigated by local, state, and federal public health and regulatory agencies. Epidemiological data from the outbreak investigation coupled with results of FDA inspection findings and analyses from product and environmental samples collected from ARO’s processing facility indicate that pistachios were the likely source of the Salmonella outbreak. During the May 21st through May 24th, 2013 inspection, environmental samples were collected from various locations within ARO’s processing facility and analyzed. The analysis revealed the presence of Salmonella enterica serotype Senftenberg (S. senftenberg) in seventeen (17) subsamples. During the FDA inspection, investigators observed the following significant violation: a. An employee in the roasting room was observed repeatedly touching the bottom of shipping boxes that were resting on the floor and then touching roasted, ready-to-eat, pistachios without washing or sanitizing hands. b. Maintenance personnel were observed entering and exiting the hand sorting room through a door that opens directly to the outside of the facility. Apparent bird droppings were observed on the floor of the outside areas where maintenance personnel were observed working and entering the hand sorting room. c. Inside the hand sorting room, two buckets containing floor sweepings of pistachios, dust, and debris, were observed near the hand sorting production lines. During the inspection, ARO stated that the buckets of floor swept pistachios would be reworked into finished product. d. 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