Missa Bay, LLC, a distributor for McDonald's, Wawa, Burger King and other restaurants, voluntarily recalled a total of 293,488 cases and 296,224 individually distributed units of fruit, vegetable, and sandwich products containing apples earlier this week.

The voluntary recall was put in place because the products might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes which can cause fever, muscle aches and gastro intestinal symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea.

The recalled foods contain diced or sliced apples and have use-by dates of July 8, 2012 through August 20, 2012.

McDonald’s USA Spokesperson Danya Proud issued the follow statement in response to the recall. 

“McDonald’s food safety and quality control standards are among the highest in the restaurant industry. We have a long history of leadership in this area and work with suppliers who share our commitment to provide customers with safe, quality menu items.

In an abundance of caution, we stopped serving all existing apple products from Ready Pac’s Missa Bay facility and removed them entirely from our restaurants and distribution centers. This is a precautionary voluntary measure, only. It’s important to note that McDonald’s has not received any reports of illness with Ready Pac’s recall.

Information about McDonald’s apple menu items potentially impacted by this voluntary recall can be found a www.mcdonalds.com or by calling 1-800-244-6227.

Apple menu items currently in our restaurants are not affected by this recall.

Like all food businesses, we are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to look to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide further guidance as more is known.”