Actually, they don't all come from that processor, you should contact Whole Foods before you toss the granola, if the nuts come from another company, keep eating.

Well I am not sure what to say but if you decide not to eat it you could feed it to the birds so it won't go to waste. Did you bake it after you mixed in the pistachio's? If you heat it in the oven I would think the salmonella would be killed if it was ever there in the first place.
Joann

The article says, "But problems can occur if the roasting is not done correctly or if roasted nuts are re-exposed to bacteria." Wouldn't that seem to indicate that the bacteria is (or at least can be) on the outside of the pistachios? In which case, would picking them out do any good?

I have pistachios in thef reezer....they have been there long enough that I don't worry about them being part of this recall...
Did you toast/roast/oven dry the granola? If so I would guess it's fine.
I think they are talking about pistachios in the shell, not the shelled nuts you use in cooking.
Linda C

I think foodonastump is right. If you really think there's a risk of your pistachios being contaminated, you need to throw out the whole batch. Either that or bake it like Joann suggested. Make sure you get it hot enough to actually kill anything though.

Chrissy

No, I dehydrated the grains, oil, honey, & spices then added the dried fruits, nuts, & seeds. The only kind of pistachio I can get here, in quantity, are in the shell. It's DH's job to shell them.

I don't think it's just in-the-shell nuts anyway because the article says this about Kraft, "Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day and expanded the recall to include any Planters and Back to Nature products that contain pistachios Tuesday."

I have to go to CVS this morning. I'm going to stop by S&P while I'm out & ask what their doing? If they are stripping shelves of everything from pistachio ice cream to cookies...I'll toss the granola.

I wonder if it would be harmful to the birds? We have a nature center here in town...I'll call them.

/tricia

I would call Whole Foods. The pistachios might not even be from this country. My son gave DH a lot of Turkish pistachios as a Christmas present from a fancy nut place.
Still, unless WF can tell you that all their pistachios came from somewhere else, I guess you'll have to give up on them. It's worth asking, though.

OK, I decided to just call Whole Foods where we purchased the pistachios (Rhode Island). They have not yet received recall notices. But, they have pulled ALL PRODUCTS containing pistachios from the shelves in anticipation of receiving notices in the next several days as the investigation gains traction.

So, I'm just going to wait a few more days & see what unfolds in the investigation.

Also called the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center here in Mystic about feeding the granola to the birds. They are going to have a specialist call me in a few minutes. Our property is one of those certified wildlife habitat sites & I always err on the side of caution in our gardens.

OK, just got the return call from the nature center. Birds are carriers of salmonella but they do NOT get the disease. So, I can feed the granola. But, it's another reason, according to the biologist I spoke to, that we shouldn't handle wild birds with our bare hands. So, I learned something new today.

/tricia

Even if your granola is dried....if you bake it you will kill the salmonella....heat kills the bacteria just as heat kills salmonella in eggs and in hamburger and chicken.
And if you do decide to toss it, it won't hurt the birds not your dog....those animals have a shorter digestive tract making it un likely to pick up germs like salmonella.
If unsure bake it....make granola bars...
Linda C

It won't hurt the birds at all, they carry salmonella, which is why we are told not to eat raw eggs if they are commercially grown. If it would harm the birds, those chickens wouldn't still be laying eggs for us to eat, now would they?

I'd leave it in the freezer until you get more info, if you think you'll learn anything new. If not, I'd probably also bake it into granola bars, add it to whole grain bread, make some granola muffins or try roasting it in the oven.

However, I also have to point out that salmonella is most dangerous to the young, the elderly and those who are compromised or already have health issues. With everything you've posted that's wrong with you, I'm not sure I'd take the chance of eating it. I don't know about your husband's general health, so I can't conjecture on that.

Annie

TriciaÂ.
I just read this in the LA Times.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pistachio1-2009apr01,0,1487789.story?track=rss

Maybe if you can find out from Whole Foods where they got them you could call that company and see if they were contaminated.

Claudia

I heard on the radio that we shouldn't toss everything yet, we should wait for more updates, but in the meantime we should NOT eat it. Maybe just put it aside and wait for more info?

Claudia, thanks for the article. The poor San Juaquin (that's my home). I asked about the grower & processor when I called Whole Foods this morning. They said they couldn't give out that info because they'd not received an official recall notice. But, they have taken ALL pistachio products off their shelves...at least the store I called in Rhode Island.

I'm just going to wait a few days & see where the investigation leads...but, probably, won't eat the granola. Annie's right, I've got enough medical stuff going on to justify giving the birds a real treat. Darn, that granola also has lots of dried pineapple & papaya...those are my favorites.

/tricia

Anyone know about Aldi's pistachios?
I bought a bag 2 weeks ago and they're half gone. I'm not going to throw them out but how do I find out where they came from? The Aldi's site doesn't say.

Locally here in the SE there IS an outbreak of salmonella in goldfinches, purple finches and pine siskins, possibly associated with peanuts in feed.
They recommend bleaching feeders weekly and changing their location frequently.
I have found five goldfinches and a bluebird dead in my yard in the last month. I know a couple were probably from window strikes, but I bleached my feeders and put them away until fall.

Bumblebeez, it seems to me that if you ate half the package and no one got sick, you're safe with that bag. It doesn't matter where they came from, you're OK.

Tricia, did DH shell all those pistachios and not eat ANY of them? Wow! What discipline. When I'm shelling nuts, I have to force myself to quit eating half my output. If he ate them them, they're OK now, don't you think?

It's probably not every pistachio, just some of them, but still, it seems like the pistachios you've already eaten some of and not gotten sick from would be OK.