Consumers’ resource for recalled pistachios

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When the federal government stepped in to try to keep people from getting sick from eating contaminated pistachios, the warning was broad: Don’t eat any pistachios for now.

But only pistachios from Setton Farms in central California have faced recall. So, the Western Pistachio Assn. has established a website to let consumers know which brands are not affected.

Richard Matoian, executive director of the association, says the site was developed in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The companies there have signed affidavits saying that their pistachios did not come from Setton of Terra Bella Inc. Companies will be added regularly, Matoian says.

The 2008 pistachio harvest was 280 million pounds, Matoian says. So far, the recall has covered 2 million pounds of pistachios. Nearly all the pistachios in the U.S. are grown in California, with a little grown in Arizona and New Mexico.

-- Mary MacVean