Read This If You Recently Bought Hostess Hamburger Or Hot Dog Buns
It's summer time, and for a lot of people that means outdoor barbecues, pool parties, and picnics. Nothing compliments 80-degree days quite like the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers cooking on a grill, later eaten with a hefty side of coleslaw and fruit salad.
But, if in preparation for your summer extravaganza, you happened to buy Hostess hamburger or hot dog buns, you may want to keep reading. On August 16, the Food and Drug Administration announced that Hostess was voluntarily recalling soft white hamburger and hotdog buns because of concerns of potential salmonella and listeria contamination.
The recall applies exclusively to products made in Best Harvest Bakeries, a Hostess co-manufacturer. According to Food Safety News, "As Best Harvest Bakeries only manufactures certain Hostess hamburger buns and hot dog buns for Hostess Brands, no other Hostess products are affected, including Hostess bread and bagel products."
While luckily this development does not apply to all Hostess bread items, if the recall does affect a product you recently purchased, here are all the details you need to know.
More about Hostess' voluntary recall
As previously noted, on August 16, the Food and Drug Administration announced that Hostess was voluntarily recalling hamburger and hotdog buns because of concerns of potential salmonella and listeria contamination.
According to Delish, "Affected products are limited to the Hostess Soft White Hamburger Buns and the Soft White Hot Dog Buns, which were sold to distributors, convenience stores, and other retail stores throughout the United States."
And as the FDA explained, "Consumers who have purchased an affected product are urged to immediately dispose of the product or return it to the place of purchase for a full refund." In the same announcement, the FDA also shared a list of affected UPCs and batches to identify potentially problematic products, and the administration emphasized this recall is out of an "abundance of caution."
Luckily, Hostess has yet to receive any reports of illness — salmonella and listeria are bacteria that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, those wth weakened immune systems, the elderly, and pregnant women. Symptoms may include fever, severe headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, according to the FDA.
It's not necessary to cancel the whole barbecue, but for the time being it's probably best to source your buns from a different manufacturer to keep yourself and your friends and family safe.