List of food recalls getting longer: Here’s what to look for

The list of foods being recalled this week has been growing by the day -- and many of the products have been distributed in Massachusetts. Seven tons of hummus sold at Trader Joe’s and Target have been pulled from shelves due to concerns about listeria contamination. Earlier this week, I reported that one Massachusetts resident was sickened by e.coli-contaminated ground beef served as a hamburger at a restaurant, and another had an allergic reaction to Market Basket “dairy-free” pancakes that erroneously contained milk. Sprouts and cottage cheese have also been recalled.

What to look for:

1. Tainted ground beef. The 1.8 million pounds of ground beef that was recalled by Wolverine Packing product likely didn’t wind up in your refrigerator if you’re in Massachusetts. It was shipped to restaurants in Massachusetts and sold for retail purchase in supermarkets in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin, according to CNN. Customers who bought ground beef from Gordon Food Service Marketplace and other establishments in those states should look for the code EST.2574B and a production date between March 31 and April 18, 2014.

2. Cottage cheese. Kraft voluntarily recalled 1.2 million cases of Knudsen Cottage Cheese, Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese, Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese, and Daily Chef Cottage Cheese products. “Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft’s temperature standards,” the company said in a statement. “This could create conditions that could lead to premature spoilage and/or food borne illness.” Here’s a list of the product names and package codes that were recalled. They were shipped throughout the country.

3. Target Archer Farms Hummus. About seven tons of hummus and dip products were recalled due to concerns about possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism, that can cause serious infections in young children and the elderly and others with weakened immune systems. It can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Other brands of hummus and dips produced by Lansal, Inc. and sold at Trader Joe’s and Giant supermarket were also involved in the recall but weren’t sold in Massachusetts.

Here’s a list of products to look for and to discard or return to the store where you purchased them for a refund.

4. Walnuts. Sherman Produce said it was recalling 241 cases of bulk walnuts packaged in 25-pound bulk cardboard boxes and Schnucks brand 10-ounce trays with “UPC 00338390032 with best by dates 03/15 and 04/15,” also over concerns about listeria contamination after the pathogen was detected in walnuts at the facility. The nuts weren’t sold in New England.

5. Raw sprouts. At least eight cases of E. coli O121 illness have been linked to raw clover sprouts produced by Evergreen Fresh Sprouts of Idaho. The sprouts were sold in Idaho and Washington state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises children, older adults, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems to avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind -- including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts -- because they’ve been implicated in many foodborne illness outbreaks.

The sprouts likely get contaminated by animal droppings that carry bacteria and other pathogens. “Cook sprouts thoroughly to reduce the risk of illness,” the CDC states on its website.