Local pecans not part of national recall

The Green Valley Pecan Company (FICO) issued a press release Thursday saying it does not sell or supply any products to General Mills, which Wednesday issued a voluntary recall of their Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters, a bagged snack food that contains pecans.

The nut clusters contain pecans from an unnamed provider and General Mills said in its press release that, “This action is being taken as a precaution because pecans received from a supplier and used in the product may be tainted with salmonella.” The recall does not include Nature Valley Granola Bars. That complete release is on www.generalmills.com.

The Green Valley Pecan Company is not involved in the recall in any way, Farmers Investment Co. (FICO) Vice President Nan S. Walden said. She pointed out that the Green Valley Pecan Company uses a state-of-the-art pasteurization system to kill potential contaminants such as salmonella in the cracking and shelling process, and that not all pecan and nut producers use that technique.

The Green Valley Pecan Company is the world’s largest grower and processor of pecans, Walden said, and supplies the pecans its grows on the FICO farm in Sahuarita as well as others it buys to large food processing companies that use them for snacks, cookies, ice cream and other products. Walden said Green Valley Pecan can track for food safety purposes both the pecans it grows locally and those it buys from elsewhere when it sells pecans to other companies.

General Mills said only Nut Lovers products with the following five “best if used by dates” are being recalled, ranging from March 7, 2010 to March 11, 2010.

pfranchine@ahuarita.com| 547-9738