Jamba Juice Warns Consumers of Contaminated Strawberries

SAN FRANCISCO – Jamba Juice Co. is warning consumers in the Southwest that smoothies containing strawberries might have been contaminated with a potentially deadly bacterium.

The warning, issued in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, applies to smoothies sold at Jamba Juice stores in Arizona, southern Nevada and Southern California from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1

The company said it had not received any reports of confirmed illnesses.

San Francisco-based Jamba Juice issued the warning Tuesday after one of its suppliers — Cleugh's Frozen Foods of Salinas — said frozen strawberries from one of its facilities tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

The bacterium can cause sometimes-fatal infections in young children, the elderly and others with weak immune systems, and miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. Healthy people may develop fevers, headaches, nausea, diarrhea and other symptoms.

Jamba Juice said it halted all shipments from that supplier and removed all strawberries it provided.