To the trade and all of our customers across all distribution channels,

The CDC and FDA have identified a strain of salmonella in fresh red onions that has sickened over four hundred people in the United States.

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The Center for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration are able scientifically to link all of those individual sicknesses to one unique strain of salmonella. The salmonella was found linked through consumption of fresh red onions. Those onions have been traced back, again in a scientific fashion, to the farms of Thompson, International, in Bakersfield, California.

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Our companies, Race-West and Philip G. Ball have not done any business with Thompson International for over a year.

We are researching to ensure that none of the onions we purchase regionally from local handlers could have come from that farm. We will report any findings related to our research.

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Currently, there have been no cases discovered since July 16th in the United States.

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Our food safety team, Jenn Danei, Director of Food Safety, Gerri Maus, Lynn Sheridan, and Joseph Cutler, Masters Degree in Plant Science, has been working on this since Friday morning.

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This is the most recent and most accurate information we can find. We will continue researching all of our product and secondary purchases and will report back our findings.

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Anyone who has purchased Race-West brand onions can feel comfortable using them.

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We are guided by the sign in our Food Safety Department office, no Food Safety, no business, and no exceptions.

Wishing everyone a great day.

Feel free to contact me at any time, spudsrus@icloud.com

Harris